Patent Application
20120050960
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a simplified hinge, especially to a simplified hinge mounted between a cover and a base of an electronic device to allow the cover to pivot relative to the base.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Conventional hinges have some elements providing positioning function and have other elements providing torsion by abrasion.
For example, a conventional hinge as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,533,446, which is incorporated herein by reference, comprises two positioning washers with corresponding protrusions and detents, which are normally called cams in this art. The positioning washers or cams are rotated relative to each other to selectively engage the corresponding protrusions and detents to provide positioning function; specifically, the positioning function means that when the cover is getting to be closed to a certain angle, for example 15 degrees, the cover will automatically falls to facilitate the latching; this is because the protrusions of cams are sliding into in the detents. On the other hand, when the cover is rotated to open to certain angles, for example at about 120˜435 degrees, the cover will be automatically positioned to suit uses' best viewing angle. All is normally called auto-lock capability.
Accordingly, various contours of the cams have been designed to meet different desires and to limit the cover from over rotating so that the electronic wires in the hinge will not be damaged. Further, multiple resilient washers push the positioning washers or cams to keep them abutting each other so that they rub against each other to provide torsion. Similar conventional hinges are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,171,247, 6,862,779, 7,082,642, 7,219,393 and U.S. Patent Application Publications 2006/0005353, 2005/0155183 and 2005/0039301, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. These kinds of hinge are widely used in portable electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones. From these references, it is noted that the success of adjusting and positioning the cover of the electronic device at a certain angle relies on the cooperation of positioning washers (cams) and resilient washers.
Another conventional hinge as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,047, which is incorporated herein by reference, comprises multiple resilient disks. The resilient disks force other components to rub against each other to provide torsion. Similar conventional hinges are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,772,351, 5,913,351, 5,970,580, 5,940,936, 6,163,928, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. It is obvious that these kinds of hinges do not have cams to provide auto-lock capability; therefore, they will not facilitate closing of the cover and latching, nor are they automatically positioned or locked at certain angles when cover is rotated to open.
Considering the functions that a conventional hinge should provide, positioning function and torsion are necessary and important functions. Because hinges with cams are usually capable of passing its life test, the second types of conventional hinges are getting out of market and replaced by the first types of conventional hinges.
Also, from the above description, positioning function (or called auto-lock capability) and torsion are provided by different components in the conventional hinges. As nowadays the cost reduction will be first priority, the conventional hinges with complex and many components will inevitably increase the cost. Furthermore, the more components the conventional hinges have, the larger the conventional hinges are. Sizes of portable electronic devices need to be reduced to satisfy users' demand, and the larger conventional hinges conflict with the trend.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a simplified hinge to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the present invention is to provide a simplified hinge, which is with fewer components while it still achieves positioning function and having enough torque for the portable electronic device.
The simplified hinge is mounted between a cover and a base of a portable electronic device. The simplified hinge has a pintle connected to the base, a main linking sheet connected to the cover and a resilient washer and a positioning washer abutting each other and mounted around the pintle. The resilient washer has a resilient segment protruding from one side, and the positioning washer has corresponding positioning protrusion or detent to fit with the resilient segment of the resilient washer. With the elasticity of the resilient segment, the resilient washer generates torsion when rotating between the positioning washer and the pintle. Furthermore, the positioning protrusion or detent of the positioning washer selectively engages with the resilient segment to provide positioning function. Therefore, the resilient washer provides not only the torsion but also the positioning function so that the simplified hinge has a simplified structure and its size is effectively reduced.
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
With reference to
The resilient washer 20 is mounted rotatably around the mounting rod 12 of the pintle 10 via a circular hole 21. The resilient segment 201 protrudes from one side of the resilient washer 20 to form a positioning protrusion 23 and thus correspondingly form a positioning detent on the other side of the resilient washer 20; accordingly, the upper and lower margins of the positioning detent are defined as two abutting ends 22. The abutting ends 22 of the resilient segment 201 abut against the first side 111 of the enlarged head 11 of the pintle 10. When the positioning protrusion 23 is pressed, the abutting ends 22 moves outwardly on the first side 111 because the resilient segment 201 is flexible.
The main linking sheet 40 extends out from the resilient washer 20.
The positioning washer 30 is mounted slidably and non-rotatably around the mounting rod 12 via a keyed hole 31. The positioning washer 30 has a first side 34, a second side 32, a positioning detent 33 and a positioning protrusion 35. The second side 32 of the positioning washer 30 abuts against the positioning protrusion 23 of the resilient washer 20. The positioning detent 33 is formed in the second side 32 of the positioning washer 30 and selectively engages the positioning protrusion 23 of the resilient washer 20, and thus the positioning protrusion 35 of the positioning washer 30 protrudes on the first side 34 of the positioning washer 30.
The fastener 50 is mounted securely at the end of the mounting rod 12 and abuts against the first side 34 of the positioning washer 30. The fastener 50 urges the positioning washer 30, the resilient washer 20 and the enlarged head 11 of the pintle 11 to abut against each other. Therefore, the abutting ends 22 of the resilient segment 201 contact with the first side 111 of the enlarged head 11. The positioning detent 33 of the positioning washer 30 selectively engages the positioning protrusion 23 to provide desired positioning function or so-called auto-lock capability. The fastener 50 may be a nut to screw onto the threaded part 121 of the mounting rod 12. It is obvious that the fastener 50 can be eliminated if the end of the mounting rod 12 is flatted as a rivet to avoid the positioning washer 30 from escape.
With reference to
With reference to
When the cover 60 is getting opened, the positioning washer 30 remains steady on the mounting rod 12 while resilient segment 201 of the resilient washer 20 with elasticity is then pressed by the positioning washer 30 and deformed to become flatter so that the abutting ends 22 move outwardly on the first side 111 of the enlarged head 11 and thus the abrasion results in torsion as shown in
A hinge for a portable electronic device must pass the life test; namely, the hinge has to be opened and closed for over twenty thousand times. When the hinge is continually opened and closed, the abutting ends 22 of the resilient segment 201 not only keep rubbing against and but also move outwardly and inwardly on the first side 111 of the enlarged head 11. And this will greatly and directly influences the lifespan of the resilient washer 20 of the hinge as described. Therefore, the following alternative embodiments will show how to modify the present invention to prolong the lifespan of the resilient washer 20.
A preferred embodiment as shown in
With further reference to
The positioning protrusions and positioning detents on the resilient washer and the positioning washer may be altered without reducing the effects, such as the quantity and the location.
Another preferred embodiment is shown in
With reference to
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 features 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.
