1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a rotatable coupling device applied to flexible display screen, and more particularly to a coupling device assembled on an electronic apparatus with a flexible unfoldable/foldable display screen. The coupling device includes a hinge composed of multiple rotary shafts and a responsive structure assembled with the hinge. When the flexible display screen is unfolded/folded along with the hinge, the responsive structure is displaceable relative to the hinge to absorb the deformation amount on inner and outer sides caused by the hinge so as to eliminate the affection of the deformation amount on the flexible display screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are various electronic apparatuses provided with covers or display screens, such as mobile phones, notebooks, PDA, digital image capturing devices and electronic books. The covers, display screens or viewers are pivotally mounted on the electronic apparatuses via hinges or rotary shafts, whereby the covers, the display screens or the viewers can be freely rotated and opened/closed under external force. In order to operate the display screen (such as the screen) and/or the apparatus body of the electronic apparatus in more operation modes and application ranges, a conventional dual-shaft mechanism mounted between the display screen and the apparatus body has been developed to rotate the display screen and/or the apparatus body by different angles in accordance with different operation modes.
In recent years, there is a trend to enlarge the size of the display screen, while miniaturizing the volume of the electronic apparatus. In order to meet the harsh requirement, the manufacturers have gradually developed one-piece flexible display to fully cover the two folding leaves of the foldable/unfoldable electronic apparatus. Under such circumstance, in an unfolded state, a large-area display screen can be provided for a user. In the development process, it is found that the conventional hinge (or rotary shaft) cannot be applied to the product of the flexible display screen. This is because in the case that the flexible display screen is assembled and bridged between the two folding leaves of the conventional hinge, the hinge is positioned on one face (inner face or outer face) of the flexible display screen near the middle thereof. When the hinge is pivotally rotated and unfolded/folded, the folding face on the outer side and inner side of the rotational center of the hinge will be inevitably extended or contracted due to the difference between the rotational radiuses. Therefore, when the flexible display screen is disposed on the folding face on the outer side or the inner side of the rotational center of the hinge, which is slightly spaced from the rotational center by a gap, the extension/contraction of the folding face on the outer side and inner side due to the pivotal rotation of the hinge is indirect proportion to the distance between the folding face on the outer side and inner side and the center of the hinge. Also, the extension/contraction of the folding face on the inner side is just reverse to the extension/contraction of the folding face on the outer side. Therefore, in the condition that the flexible display screen is fixed on the inner side or the outer side of the hinge, the deformation amount caused by the extension/contraction of the folding face will inevitably lead to extension or compression of the flexible display screen. This must be overcome. Otherwise, the flexible display screen is inadaptable to the extension/contraction requirement in the unfolding/folding operation and can be hardly applied to such product. Therefore, it is a critical issue how to avoid the extension or the compression of the flexible display screen, which is caused when the conventional hinge is unfolded/folded. This technique decides whether the flexible display screen can be widely applied to the unfoldable/foldable electronic apparatus.
It is therefore tried by the applicant to provide a rotatable coupling device applied to flexible display screen to improve the shortcoming of the conventional technique.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a rotatable coupling device applied to flexible display screen. The rotatable coupling device is disposed on an electronic apparatus with a flexible display screen. The rotatable coupling device includes a hinge and a responsive structure assembled with the hinge. When the hinge is unfolded/folded, the responsive structure is able to absorb the deformation amount of the folding faces of the inner and outer sides caused by the hinge. Therefore, the direct affection of the deformation amount on the flexible display screen is eliminated and the possibility of damage of the flexible display screen due to the deformation amount is minimized. In this case, the flexible display screen is applicable to the electronic apparatus with a flexible display screen to widen the application range of the flexible display screen.
To achieve the above and other objects, the rotatable coupling device applied to flexible display screen of the present invention includes two folding sections, a hinge disposed between the two folding sections and at least one responsive structure. The responsive structure includes a displaceable section and a non-displaceable section. The non-displaceable section is assembled with the displaceable section. The displaceable section is displaceable toward or away from the non-displaceable section. The displaceable section is fixedly connected on the folding sections. The flexible display screen is coupled to the non-displaceable section of the responsive structure. Accordingly, when the hinge is pivotally rotated, the responsive structure can absorb the deformation amount of the folding face caused by the hinge so as to eliminate the ill affection of the deformation amount on the flexible display screen.
According to the above arrangement, when the folding sections are folded or unfolded around the hinge as a rotational center, the displaceable section of the responsive structure is displaced relative to the non-displaceable section. Therefore, the responsive structure is displaced relative to the folding sections. In this case, the responsive structure is not only folded or unfolded along with the folding sections, but also is able to absorb the folding deformation amount caused when the hinge is folded so as to prevent the deformation amount from being transmitted through the responsive structure to affect the flexible display screen coupled to the responsive structure. Accordingly, it is ensured that the flexible display screen is free from the pulling or compression effect due to the deformation amount.
According to the above arrangement, the rotatable coupling device is characterized in that the responsive structure includes a displaceable section and a non-displaceable section. The displaceable section is fixedly connected with the folding sections and the non-displaceable section is relatively movably assembled with the displaceable section. The flexible display screen is coupled on the non-displaceable section, whereby the displaceable section and the non-displaceable section can slide relative to each other to extend or retract so as to absorb the deformation amount.
In the above rotatable coupling device, the non-displaceable section includes a folding slide cover and a folding slide seat and the displaceable section includes at least one folding slide plate. The folding slide plate is relatively movably disposed between the folding slide cover and the folding slide seat. The flexible display screen is disposed on the folding slide seat.
In the above rotatable coupling device, a flexible plate is additionally fixedly disposed between the folding slide seats on two sides of the hinge. When the flexible display screen is attached to the folding sections and the hinge, the flexible plate serves to provide necessary support and separation for the flexible display screen. When the folding sections are folded/unfolded around the hinge, the flexible plate also provides a restriction effect to restrict the total length of the non-displaceable sections on two sides within a range. Accordingly, the flexible display screen can be smoothly folded/unfolded and bent/straightened along with the flexible plate.
In the above rotatable coupling device, an elastic member is supported and disposed between the non-displaceable section and the displaceable section, whereby in normal state, the non-displaceable section and the displaceable section are elastically forced and extended away from each other. In design, the folding slide plate is formed with latch holes on an edge proximal to the folding section for coupling with the folding section. The folding slide plate is formed with restriction sections directed to the folding slide cover and the folding slide seat. The elastic member is supported and disposed between the non-displaceable section and the restriction sections of the folding slide plate. Accordingly, the elastic members respectively elastically drive the non-displaceable sections, whereby the non-displaceable sections tend to displace away from the hinge. Therefore, in normal state, two ends of the flexible plate are respectively pulled toward two lateral sides. Under such circumstance, the flexible plate and the surface of the flexible display screen are naturally tensioned in a plane state.
In the above rotatable coupling device, the folding slide plate is formed with at least one guided section. The guided section of the folding slide plate extends in a direction of relative displacement between the responsive structure and the hinge. The non-displaceable section or the folding slide cover has at least one guide section. The guide section of the folding slide cover serves to guide the guided section of the folding slide plate to relatively displace.
In the above rotatable coupling device, a subsidiary folding slide plate is fixedly laminated on at least one of two faces of the folding slide plate of the displaceable section, whereby a part of the folding section is sandwiched between the subsidiary folding slide plates. The subsidiary folding slide plate is formed with at least one subsidiary guided section corresponding to the guided section. The subsidiary guided section of the subsidiary folding slide plate also extends in a direction of the relative displacement between the responsive structure and the hinge. The subsidiary guided section of the subsidiary folding slide plate is guided by the guide section. The subsidiary folding slide plate is formed with insertion shield recesses on an edge adjacent to the folding section. The insertion shield recesses serve to insert and assemble with the folding section to achieve a shielding effect. The folding slide plate and the subsidiary folding slide plate are formed with notches directed to the folding slide cover and the folding slide seat as the restriction sections. An elastic member is formed with a first end and a second end. First and second end of the elastic member are respectively supported and disposed between the non-displaceable section and the restriction sections. The guided section and the subsidiary guided section are travel slots relatively displaceable away from or toward the hinge. The guide section is a slide block fixed on the non-displaceable section and disposed in the travel slots. Alternatively, the guided section and the subsidiary guided section are slide rails and the guide section is a slide sleeve slidably fitted on the slide rails. Accordingly, the guide section and the guided section and the subsidiary guided section are relatively slidably assembled with each other, whereby the folding slide seat and the folding slide cover and the folding slide plate and the subsidiary folding slide plate can be displaced relative to each other to provide deformation amount absorption function.
In the above rotatable coupling device, the hinge includes multiple rotary shafts for the folding sections on two sides to synchronously or asynchronously fold/unfold.
The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein:
Please refer to
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To speak more specifically, the folding sections 11, 110 on one side of the hinge 2 (as shown in
It should be noted that a subsidiary folding slide plate 303, 305 (as shown in
Please refer to
As shown in
In a preferred embodiment, the folding slide plate 301 is formed with at least one guided section 3013. The subsidiary folding slide plates 303, 305 are formed with at least one subsidiary guided section 3033, 3053 corresponding to the guided section 3013. The folding slide plate 302 is formed with at least one guided section 3023. The subsidiary folding slide plates 304, 306 are formed with at least one subsidiary guided section 3043, 3063 corresponding to the guided section 3023. Two ends of the guided sections 3013, 3023 and the subsidiary guided sections 3033, 3043, 3053, 3063 respectively extend in a direction of the relative displacement between the responsive structure and the hinge 2. At least one guide section 51 is fixedly disposed between the substrate 3111 of the folding slide cover 311 and the folding slide seat 313. The guide section 51 of the folding slide cover 311 and the folding slide seat 313 serves to guide the guided section 3013 of the folding slide plate 301 and the subsidiary guided sections 3033, 3053 of the subsidiary folding slide plates 303, 305 to relatively displace. At least one guide section 52 is fixedly disposed between the substrate 3121 of the folding slide cover 312 and the folding slide seat 314. The guide section 52 of the folding slide cover 312 and the folding slide seat 314 serves to guide the guided section 3023 of the folding slide plate 302 and the subsidiary guided sections 3043, 3063 of the subsidiary folding slide plates 304, 306 to relatively displace. The flexible plate 4 is fixed on the folding slide seats 313, 314 by means of the guide sections 51, 52. To speak more specifically, the guided sections 3013, 3023 and the subsidiary guided sections 3033, 3043, 3053, 3063 can be travel slots. The guide sections 51, 52 can be slide blocks slidably disposed in the travel slots. Alternatively, the guided sections 3014, 3024 and the subsidiary guided sections 3034, 3044, 3054, 3064 can be slide rails disposed on two sides of the folding slide plates 301, 302 and the subsidiary folding slide plates 303, 304, 305, 306. The guide sections 53, 54 can be slide sleeves arranged on two sides of the folding slide covers 311, 312 and the folding slide seats 313, 314. The slide sleeves are fitted on the slide rails. Accordingly, via the guide sections 51, 53, the folding slide cover 311 and the folding slide seat 313 can be slidably assembled with the guided sections 3013, 3014 of the folding slide plate 301 and the subsidiary guided sections 3033, 3053, 3034, 3054 of the subsidiary folding slide plates 303, 305. Via the guide sections 52, 54, the folding slide cover 312 and the folding slide seat 314 can be slidably assembled with the guided sections 3023, 3024 of the folding slide plate 302 and the subsidiary guided sections 3043, 3063, 3044, 3064 of the subsidiary folding slide plates 304, 306.
As shown in
Please refer to
According to the above arrangement, the flexible display screen 7 is attached to the folding sections 11, 12, 110, 120 and the hinge 2 and folded/unfolded along therewith. In this case, the bending deformation amount caused by the bending of the hinge 2 can be released by means of the relative displacement between the displaceable section 30 and the non-displaceable section 31. Accordingly, the deformation amount of the hinge 2 will not pass through the responsive structure 3 to affect the flexible display screen 7 coupled with the responsive structure 3. In this case, it is ensured that the flexible display screen 7 will not be affected by the pull or compression effect of the deformation amount.
In a modified embodiment, the flexible plate 4 is omitted and two ends of the flexible display screen 7 are directly fixed on the folding slide seats 313, 314.
The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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105202150 | Feb 2016 | TW | national |