CN114157742A

CN114157742A - Folding mechanism and mobile terminal

Info

Publication number: CN114157742A
Application number: CN202111503558.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 安鑫; 王海涛; 汤溶; 王睿哲; 史中雨; 陈蓉
Original assignee: Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-09
Filing date: 2021-12-09
Publication date: 2022-03-08

Abstract

The application relates to a folding mechanism and mobile terminal, folding mechanism includes first casing, second casing, rotation portion and sliding part, wherein, first casing with the second casing passes through rotation portion rotates the connection, sliding part sliding connection in on the second casing, and for the second casing is to being close to or keeping away from the direction of first casing removes, first casing with sliding part respectively with the relative both sides of flexible screen are connected. The folding mechanism of this application passes through rotate the piece with the slider can realize the expansion or folding of flexible screen, the spare part simple structure that uses, quantity is less, has effectively improved folding mechanism's life-span.

Description

Folding mechanism and mobile terminal

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of mobile terminals, in particular to a folding mechanism and a mobile terminal with the same.

Background

With the homogenization of mobile terminals such as mobile phones and the like in terms of functions, various manufacturers continuously provide a concept of a full screen in order to increase the selling points of the mobile terminals so as to obtain a larger screen occupation ratio, and the generation of the concept of the folding screen injects new vitality into the mobile phone industry. The existing folding screen is usually realized by a special rotating shaft to realize the unfolding and the closing of the folding screen.

In the course of conceiving and implementing the present application, the inventors found that at least the following problems existed: the existing special rotating shaft scheme for the folding screen needs more parts, so that the special rotating shaft is complex in structure, high in manufacturing cost and low in yield, the design life of the whole special rotating shaft is short, and the problems of blocking, noise and the like can occur after the special rotating shaft is used for a long time.

The foregoing description is provided for general background information and is not admitted to be prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the above problems, an object of the present application is to provide a folding mechanism and a mobile terminal having the same, in which the flexible screen can be unfolded or folded by a rotating portion and a sliding portion of the folding mechanism, and the used components have simple structures and small numbers, thereby effectively prolonging the service life of the folding mechanism.

The application provides a folding mechanism for realize the expansion or folding of flexible screen, folding mechanism includes first casing, second casing, rotation portion and sliding part, optionally, first casing with the second casing passes through rotation portion rotates the connection, sliding part sliding connection in on the second casing, and for the second casing is to being close to or keeping away from the direction of first casing removes, first casing with sliding part respectively with the relative both sides of flexible screen are connected.

Optionally, the first housing and the second housing are opened or closed by the rotating portion, and the sliding portion moves a side of the flexible screen to a direction close to or away from the first housing, so that the flexible screen is unfolded or folded.

Optionally, the first housing includes a first bottom plate and a first frame, the first frame is disposed around the peripheral edge of the first bottom plate, and one side of the flexible screen is fixedly connected to one side of the first bottom plate away from the rotating portion.

Optionally, the second housing includes a second bottom plate and a second frame, the second frame is disposed around the peripheral edge of the second bottom plate, and forms an accommodating space with the second bottom plate, and the sliding portion is located in the accommodating space and can slide relative to the second bottom plate.

Optionally, the second housing further includes at least one slide rail, the slide rail is detachably mounted on the second base plate, and a length direction of the slide rail is perpendicular to a direction of a rotation axis of the rotation portion; the sliding part is connected to the sliding rail in a sliding mode and moves towards the direction close to or far away from the first shell relative to the second shell, so that the flexible screen is unfolded or folded.

Optionally, the second housing further includes at least one reserved shooting position, the reserved shooting position is disposed on a side of the second bottom plate away from the rotating portion and adjacent to the second frame, and the reserved shooting position is used for installing a shooting device; when the first shell and the second shell are opened through rotation of the rotating portion, the flexible screen is in an unfolded state, and the reserved forward-shooting position is exposed.

Optionally, the rotating portion is fixedly connected to the first frame of the first housing and the second frame of the second housing, respectively, so as to allow relative opening or closing between the first housing and the second housing.

Optionally, the sliding portion includes a fixing plate, one side of the fixing plate facing away from the second base plate is fixedly connected to one side of the flexible screen, and the other side of the flexible screen opposite to the first casing is fixedly connected to one side of the first casing away from the rotating portion.

Optionally, the sliding part further includes at least one sliding block, and the sliding block is disposed on one side of the second bottom plate facing the fixed plate and is correspondingly connected to the sliding rail in a sliding manner; the sliding block drives the fixed plate to move along the sliding rail in a direction close to or far away from the first shell, and the fixed plate drives one side of the flexible screen to move relative to the sliding rail in a direction close to or far away from the first shell, so that the flexible screen is unfolded or folded.

Optionally, the sliding part further includes an elastic member, one end of the elastic member is fixedly connected to one side of the fixed plate away from the rotating part, the other end of the elastic member opposite to the fixed plate is fixedly connected to one side of the second housing away from the rotating part, and the extending direction of the elastic member is the same as the moving direction of the fixed plate.

The application also provides a mobile terminal, which comprises the folding mechanism.

Optionally, the mobile terminal further comprises at least one flexible screen.

Optionally, the opposite sides of the flexible screen are respectively connected with the first housing and the sliding portion, and the first housing and the second housing are opened or closed through the rotating portion, so that the sliding portion drives the flexible screen to move to an unfolded state or a folded state.

To sum up, the folding mechanism of this application, first casing and second casing rotate through rotation portion and are connected, slider and second casing sliding connection to the direction removal that is close to first casing when expanding, realize expansion or folding of flexible screen, the flexible screen passes through rotate the piece with the slider can realize expanding or folding, and the spare part simple structure that uses, quantity is less, has effectively improved folding mechanism's life-span, simultaneously expansion or folding of flexible screen can realize exposing or hiding reserve the position of taking a photograph, improved the screen of the overall arrangement of taking a photograph before the flexible screen accounts for and compares. Optionally, the elastic element is fixedly connected to the fixed plate and the second housing respectively, and the elastic element is stretched to generate an elastic restoring force in the process of unfolding the flexible screen, and the elastic restoring force acts on the fixed plate to tighten the flexible screen, so that creases generated on the flexible screen are reduced or eliminated, and the use effect of the flexible screen is improved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the application. In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without inventive exercise.

Fig. 1 is an exploded schematic view of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the mobile terminal shown in fig. 1 in a folded state;

fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the mobile terminal shown in fig. 1 in an unfolded state;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a mobile terminal implementing an embodiment of the present application.

The implementation, functional features and advantages of the objectives of the present application will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. With the above figures, there are shown specific embodiments of the present application, which will be described in more detail below. These drawings and written description are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive concepts in any manner, but rather to illustrate the inventive concepts to those skilled in the art by reference to specific embodiments.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present application, as detailed in the appended claims.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, the recitation of an element by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of additional like elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element, and optionally, identically named components, features, and elements in different embodiments of the present application may have different meanings, as may be determined by their interpretation in the embodiment or by their further context within the embodiment.

It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various information, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope herein. The word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at … …" or "when … …" or "in response to a determination", depending on the context. Also, as used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes" and/or "including," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, species, and/or groups, but do not preclude the presence, or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, species, and/or groups thereof. The terms "or," "and/or," "including at least one of the following," and the like, as used herein, are to be construed as inclusive or mean any one or any combination. For example, "includes at least one of: A. b, C "means" any of the following: a; b; c; a and B; a and C; b and C; a and B and C ", again for example," A, B or C "or" A, B and/or C "means" any of the following: a; b; c; a and B; a and B; b and C; a and B and C'. An exception to this definition will occur only when a combination of elements, functions, steps or operations are inherently mutually exclusive in some way.

It should be understood that, although the steps in the flowcharts in the embodiments of the present application are shown in order as indicated by the arrows, the steps are not necessarily performed in order as indicated by the arrows. The steps are not performed in the exact order shown and may be performed in other orders unless explicitly stated herein. Moreover, at least some of the steps in the figures may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages that are not necessarily performed at the same time, but may be performed at different times, in different orders, and may be performed alternately or at least partially with respect to other steps or sub-steps of other steps.

The words "if", as used herein, may be interpreted as "at … …" or "at … …" or "in response to a determination" or "in response to a detection", depending on the context. Similarly, the phrases "if determined" or "if detected (a stated condition or event)" may be interpreted as "when determined" or "in response to a determination" or "when detected (a stated condition or event)" or "in response to a detection (a stated condition or event)", depending on the context.

It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application.

In the following description, suffixes such as "module", "component", or "unit" used to denote elements are used only for the convenience of description of the present application, and have no specific meaning in themselves. Thus, "module", "component" or "unit" may be used mixedly.

With the homogenization of mobile terminals such as mobile phones and the like in terms of functions, various manufacturers continuously provide a concept of a full screen in order to increase the selling points of the mobile terminals so as to obtain a larger screen occupation ratio, and the generation of the concept of the folding screen injects new vitality into the mobile phone industry. The existing folding screen is usually realized by a special rotating shaft to realize the unfolding and the closing of the folding screen. However, the conventional folding screen special rotating shaft scheme requires more parts, which not only results in a complicated structure of the special rotating shaft, a high manufacturing cost and a low yield, but also causes the whole special rotating shaft to have a short design life, and causes problems of jamming, noise and the like after long-time use. In addition, the folding lines of the flexible screen at the special rotating shaft are obvious when the existing folding screen is unfolded, and the watching effect of the flexible screen is influenced. Based on this, this application hopes to provide a folding screen scheme that can solve above-mentioned technical problem, and the folding mechanism simple structure of this scheme, cost are lower, can prevent effectively that folding screen from appearing the card in the use and pause with the abnormal sound, avoid folding screen to expand the back condition that the crease appears.

Please refer to fig. 1, which is an exploded schematic view of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the folding mechanism 100 provided in the present application is fixedly connected to a flexible screen 200 for implementing the unfolding or folding of the flexible screen 200. In an exemplary embodiment, the flexible screen 200 may be a flexible display screen that can be bent and folded.

In the present embodiment, the folding mechanism 100 includes a first housing 10, a second housing 20, a rotating portion 40, and a sliding portion 50. Alternatively, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are rotatably connected through the rotating portion 40, that is, the rotating portion 40 is connected between the first housing 10 and the second housing 20, and the sliding portion 50 is slidably connected to the second housing 20, that is, the sliding portion 50 is mounted on the second housing 20 and can move in a direction approaching or departing from the first housing 10 relative to the second housing 20. The first housing 10 and the sliding portion 50 are respectively connected to opposite sides of the flexible screen 200, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are opened or closed by rotating the rotating portion 40, and the sliding portion 50 carries one side of the flexible screen 200 to move towards or away from the first housing 10 relative to the second housing 20, so that the flexible screen 200 is unfolded or folded.

In the embodiment of the present application, the sliding portion 50 may be close to or far from the first housing 10 in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotating portion 40, and opposite sides of the flexible screen 200 are fixedly connected to the first housing 10 and the sliding portion 50, respectively. Alternatively, the first housing 10 may be opened or closed relative to the second housing 20 by the rotating portion 40, so that the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 bring the flexible screen 200 to unfold or fold. The sliding portion 50 drives the flexible screen 200 to approach or depart from the first housing 10 along a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotating portion 40, so as to complete the unfolding or folding of the flexible screen 200.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the folding mechanism 100 is applied to the mobile terminal 1000, the mobile terminal 1000 is illustrated in fig. 2 and 3 as a schematic perspective view in a folded state and an unfolded state, respectively. When the mobile terminal 1000 is in a folded state, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are rotated and closed by the rotating portion 40, and the sliding portion 50 carries one side of the flexible screen 200 to move relative to the second housing 20 in a direction away from the first housing 10, so that the flexible screen 200 is folded, that is, the flexible screen 200 is also in the folded state. When the mobile terminal 1000 is in the unfolded state, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are rotated to be opened by the rotating portion 40, and the sliding portion 50 moves the side of the flexible screen 200 relative to the second housing 20 in a direction approaching the first housing 10, so that the flexible screen 200 is unfolded, that is, the flexible screen 200 is also in the unfolded state.

In the embodiment of the present application, in the folding mechanism 100 of the present application, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are rotatably connected through the rotating portion 40, the sliding portion 50 is detachably mounted on the second housing 20 and slidably connected with the second housing 20, and two opposite sides of the flexible screen 200 are fixedly connected with the first housing 10 and the sliding portion 50, respectively. The sliding portion 50 drives the flexible screen 200 to move toward or away from the first casing 10 along a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotating portion 40, and to unfold or fold in the plane of the first casing 10 and the second casing 20. Therefore, the folding mechanism 100 of the present application can realize normal unfolding or folding of the flexible screen based on the rotating portion 40 and the sliding portion 50, and has the advantages of fewer required parts, simple structural design, low manufacturing cost and high yield. Moreover, because the folding mechanism 100 requires fewer elements and has a simple structure, the service life of the folding mechanism 100 is effectively prolonged.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first housing 10 may have a rectangular housing structure as a whole, and may be used as a front housing of the folding mechanism 100. The first casing 10 includes a first bottom plate 11 and a first frame 13, and the first frame 13 is disposed around a peripheral side edge of the first bottom plate 11. One side of the flexible screen 200 is fixedly connected to one side of the first bottom plate 11 away from the rotating portion 40, and optionally, one side of the flexible screen 200 may also be fixedly connected to a position of the first frame 13 away from the rotating portion 40.

In the embodiment of the present application, the second housing 20 may be a rectangular housing structure as a whole, and may be used as a rear housing of the folding mechanism 100. The second casing 20 includes a second bottom plate 21 and a second frame 23, the second frame 23 is disposed around the peripheral edge of the second bottom plate 21, and forms an accommodating space 28 with the second bottom plate 21, and the sliding portion 50 is located in the accommodating space 28 and can slide relative to the second bottom plate 21. When the first casing 10 and the second casing 20 are rotated and closed by the rotating portion 40, the first bottom plate 11 of the first casing 10 and the second bottom plate 21 of the second casing 20 may be disposed in parallel, and the first frame 13 of the first casing 10 is aligned with the second frame 23 of the second casing 20.

Alternatively, the first frame 13 and the second frame 23 may be formed by integral molding, and the first casing 10 and the second casing 20 may be respectively formed by integral molding, which is not particularly limited in this application.

In the present embodiment, the second housing 20 further includes a slide rail 24 and a reserved proactive position 26. In the embodiment of the present application, the number of the slide rails 24 is two, each slide rail 24 may be a whole long strip-shaped structure, and the two slide rails 24 are respectively and fixedly mounted on the second bottom plate 21. Optionally, the two slide rails 24 are detachably mounted on the second base plate 21, the length directions of the two slide rails 24 are perpendicular to the direction of the rotation axis of the rotation portion 40, and the sliding portion 50 is slidably connected to the slide rails 24 and moves towards or away from the first housing 10 relative to the second housing 20, so that the flexible screen 200 is unfolded or folded.

Alternatively, the number of the slide rails 24 may also be one, three, or another number, which is not particularly limited in this application.

Alternatively, the slide rail 24 may be mounted on the second bottom plate 21 by riveting, welding, snap-fit connection, or the like. In other embodiments, the slide rail 24 may be formed on the second bottom plate 21 by integral molding, which is not particularly limited in this application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the whole of the reserved forward-looking position 26 may be a hole-shaped structure for installing a forward-looking device (e.g., a front single camera, a front double camera, etc.), and the reserved forward-looking position 26 is disposed on one side of the second base plate 21 away from the rotating portion 40 and is adjacent to the second frame 23. Optionally, the reserved forward-looking position 26 and the rotating part 40 are respectively located at two opposite sides of the second base plate 21, and the reserved forward-looking position 26 is opened at a position of the second base plate 21 adjacent to the second frame 23.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are rotated and closed by the rotating portion 40, the sliding portion 50 carries one side of the flexible screen 200 to move relative to the second housing 20 in a direction away from the first housing 10, and the flexible screen 200 is in a folded state. At this time, the flexible screen 200 covers the reserved proactive position 26. When the first casing 10 and the second casing 20 are rotated to be opened by the rotating portion 40, the sliding portion 50 moves the one side of the flexible screen 200 relative to the second casing 20 in a direction approaching the first casing 10, and the flexible screen 200 is in the unfolded state. At this time, the flexible screen 200 exposes the reserved proactive position 26.

In an exemplary embodiment, the number of the reserved proactive positions 26 may be one, two, or another number, which is not particularly limited in the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the rotating portion 40 has a long bar-shaped structure, and the rotating portion 40 is fixedly connected to the first frame 13 of the first casing 10 and the second frame 23 of the second casing 20 respectively. Alternatively, the rotating portion 40 is connected between the first casing 10 and the second casing 20, and allows relative rotation between the first casing 10 and the second casing 20, thereby achieving relative opening or closing between the first casing 10 and the second casing 20.

In an exemplary embodiment, the rotating portion 40 may be a hinge structure. Alternatively, the length of the rotating portion 40 is not particularly limited, as long as the length of the rotating portion 40 can bring the first casing 10 and the second casing 20 to be relatively opened or closed around the rotation axis of the rotating portion 40, so that the flexible screen 200 is unfolded or folded.

In the embodiment of the present application, the sliding portion 50 is located in the accommodating space 28 and is slidably connected to the sliding rail 24 in the second housing 20. Alternatively, the sliding part 50 includes a fixed plate 51, and the fixed plate 51 may have a rectangular plate structure as a whole. One side of the fixed plate 51 facing away from the second bottom plate 23 is fixedly connected to one side of the flexible screen 200, and the other side of the flexible screen 200 is fixedly connected to one side of the first housing 10 (e.g., the first bottom plate 11) away from the rotating part 40.

In the embodiment of the present application, the sliding part 50 further includes a slider 52, and the slider 52 is disposed on a side of the second bottom plate 23 facing the fixed plate 51 and corresponds to the position of the slide rail 24. Optionally, the other side of the flexible screen 200 and the sliding block 52 are respectively located at two opposite sides of the fixed plate 51, and the sliding block 52 is disposed corresponding to the sliding rail 24 and is connected to the sliding rail 24 in a sliding manner, so that the sliding block 52 drives the fixed plate 51 to move along the sliding rail 24 in a direction close to or away from the first housing 10. The fixed plate 51 carries one side of the flexible screen 200 to move towards or away from the first housing 10 relative to the slide rail 24, so that the flexible screen 200 is unfolded or folded to expose or cover the reserved telephoto position 26.

Alternatively, the number of the sliders and the number of the slide rails 24 may be equal. Optionally, in the embodiment of the present application, the number of the sliding blocks is two, the two sliding blocks are disposed corresponding to the positions of the two sliding rails 24, and the sliding blocks and the sliding rails 24 are respectively connected in a corresponding sliding manner, so that the fixing plate 51 moves along the sliding rails 24 in a direction approaching or departing from the first housing 10.

In the embodiment of the present application, please refer to fig. 1, the flexible screen 200 includes a first area 210 and a second area 230, where the first area 210 and the second area 230 are two portions formed during the unfolding or folding process of the flexible screen 200, and divide the flexible screen 200 into two portions by using a dividing line S as a boundary. The first area 210 and the second area 230 correspond to positions of the first case 10 and the second case 20, respectively, when the mobile terminal 1000 is unfolded. During the unfolding or folding of the flexible screen 200, a crease may be formed at the dividing line S between the first region 210 and the second region 230. Opposite sides of the flexible screen 200 are fixedly connected to the first housing 10 and the fixing plate 51, respectively. Optionally, a side of the first region 210 away from the second region 230 is fixedly connected to a side of the first casing 10 away from the second casing 20, and a side of the second region 230 away from the first region 210 is fixedly connected to a side of the fixing plate 51 away from the first casing 10, so that the relative rotation between the first casing 10 and the second casing 20 drives the flexible screen 200 to open or close along the rotation axis of the rotating portion 40. The fixing plate 51 drives the second region 230 of the flexible screen 200 to move along the sliding rail 24 toward or away from the first housing 10 (i.e., the length direction of the sliding rail 24).

In the embodiment of the present application, the sliding portion 50 further includes an elastic member 53, opposite ends of the elastic member 53 are respectively and fixedly connected to the fixing plate 51 and the second housing 20, and the elastic member 53 is used for reducing or eliminating a crease (shown in fig. 3) generated when the flexible screen 200 is folded during the unfolding process of the folding mechanism 100. Alternatively, one end of the elastic element 53 is fixedly connected to one side of the fixed plate 51 facing the second housing 20, the other end of the elastic element 53 opposite to the one side of the second housing 20 away from the first housing 10 is fixedly connected to the other side of the fixed plate 51, and a central axis direction of the elastic element 53 (i.e. a stretching direction of the elastic element 53) is the same as a moving direction of the fixed plate 51. Optionally, the fixed plate 51 and the second housing 20 are both provided with a clamping member, and opposite ends of the elastic member 53 are respectively connected and fixed with the clamping members of the fixed plate 51 and the second housing 20. In the process of unfolding the flexible screen 200, the elastic member 53 is stretched by a tensile force, is in a stretched state, and has an elastic restoring force, the elastic restoring force acts on the fixed plate 51, and when the flexible screen 200 is unfolded, the flexible screen 200 fixedly connected with the fixed plate 51 is also acted by the elastic tensile force of the elastic member 53, so that creases which may appear on the flexible screen 200 can be reduced or even eliminated. During the folding process of the flexible screen 200, the fixing plate 51 moves along the slide rail 24 in a direction away from the first housing 10, and the elastic member 53 returns to its original length when it is installed.

In an exemplary embodiment, the elastic member 53 may be an extension spring.

In an exemplary embodiment, one end of the elastic member 53 may be fixedly connected to the fixing plate 51, and the other end of the elastic member 53 opposite to the fixing plate is fixedly connected to the second frame 23 far from the rotating part 40. Optionally, a fixing seat matched with the shape of the elastic element 53 is disposed at a position of the second frame 23 away from the rotating portion 40, and opposite ends of the elastic element 53 are respectively and fixedly connected to the fixing seat on the fixing plate 51 and the fixing seat on the second frame 23, so that the elastic element 53 is respectively and fixedly connected to the fixing plate 51 and the second housing 20, and a central axis direction of the elastic element 53 (i.e., a stretching direction of the elastic element 53) is the same as a moving direction of the fixing plate 51.

In an exemplary embodiment, one end of the elastic member 53 is fixedly connected to the fixing plate 51, and the other end of the elastic member 53 opposite to the fixing plate is fixedly connected to the second base plate 21. Optionally, a hook or a hook ring is disposed on the second bottom plate 21, and opposite ends of the elastic member 53 are respectively connected to the fixed plate 51 and the hook or the hook ring on the second bottom plate 21, so that the elastic member 53 is respectively fixedly connected to the fixed plate 51 and the second housing 20, and a central axis direction of the elastic member 53 (i.e., a telescopic direction of the elastic member 53) is the same as a moving direction of the fixed plate 51.

Alternatively, in the folding mechanism 100, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are rotatably connected by the rotating portion 40, and the two housings can rotate relatively. The sliding part 50 is slidably connected to the sliding rail 24, so that the fixing plate 51 moves in a direction away from or close to the first housing 10, and two opposite sides of the flexible screen 200 are fixedly connected to the first housing 10 and the fixing plate 51, respectively. The first housing 10 and the second housing 20 drive the flexible screen 200 to open or close along a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotation portion 40, and the fixing plate 51 drives the flexible screen 200 to move towards or away from the first housing 10 relative to the second housing 20. The elastic member 53 is fixedly connected to the first housing 10 and the fixed plate 51, and is stretched during the process of unfolding the flexible screen 200 to generate an elastic restoring force acting on the fixed plate 51, and the flexible screen 200 fixedly connected to the fixed plate 51 is tensioned due to the elastic restoring force, so that the crease generated on the flexible screen 200 is reduced or eliminated. Therefore, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are rotatably connected by the rotating portion 40, and the sliding portion 50 is slidably connected to the sliding rail 24, so that the flexible screen 200 is unfolded or folded, and moves in a direction approaching the first housing 10 when being unfolded. The flexible screen 200 can be unfolded or folded through the rotating piece 40 and the sliding piece 50, the used parts are simple in structure and small in quantity, the service life of the folding mechanism is effectively prolonged, meanwhile, the flexible screen 200 can be unfolded or folded to expose or cover the reserved front shooting position 26, and the screen occupation ratio of the front shooting layout of the flexible screen 200 is improved. Alternatively, the elastic member 53 is fixedly connected to the fixing plate 51 and the first housing 10, respectively, and the elastic member 53 is stretched to generate an elastic restoring force during the unfolding process of the flexible screen 200. The elastic restoring force acts on the fixing plate 51 to tighten the flexible screen 200, thereby reducing or eliminating creases generated on the flexible screen 200 and improving the use effect of the flexible screen.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a mobile terminal 1000, where the mobile terminal 1000 includes the flexible screen 200 and the folding mechanism 100 described above.

Alternatively, two opposite sides of the flexible screen 200 are respectively connected to the first housing 10 and the sliding portion 50, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are opened or closed by rotating the rotating portion 40, and the sliding portion 50 carries one side of the flexible screen 200 to move towards or away from the first housing 10 relative to the second housing 20, so that the flexible screen 200 is unfolded or folded, that is, the flexible screen 200 is in an unfolded state or a folded state.

In an embodiment of the present application, the mobile terminal 1000 may further include: RF (Radio Frequency) unit 101, WiFi module 102, audio output unit 103, a/V (audio/video) input unit 104, sensor 105, display unit 106, user input unit 107, interface unit 108, memory 109, processor 110, and power supply 111. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mobile terminal 1000 depicted in FIG. 4 is not intended to be limiting of the mobile terminal 1000, and that the mobile terminal 1000 may include more or less components than those shown, or some components may be combined, or a different arrangement of components.

The following describes the components of the mobile terminal 1000 in detail with reference to fig. 4:

the radio frequency unit 101 may be configured to receive and transmit signals during information transmission and reception or during a call, and specifically, receive downlink information of a base station and then process the downlink information to the processor 110; in addition, the uplink data is transmitted to the base station. Typically, radio frequency unit 101 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like. Alternatively, the radio frequency unit 101 may also communicate with a network and other devices through wireless communication. The wireless communication may use any communication standard or protocol, including but not limited to GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), CDMA2000(Code Division Multiple Access 2000), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), FDD-LTE (Frequency Division duplex-Long Term Evolution), TDD-LTE (Time Division duplex-Long Term Evolution, Time Division Long Term Evolution), 5G, and so on.

WiFi belongs to short-distance wireless transmission technology, and the mobile terminal can help a user to receive and send e-mails, browse webpages, access streaming media and the like through the WiFi module 102, and provides wireless broadband internet access for the user. Although fig. 2 shows the WiFi module 102, it is understood that it does not belong to the essential constitution of the mobile terminal, and may be omitted entirely as needed within the scope not changing the essence of the invention.

The audio output unit 103 may convert audio data received by the radio frequency unit 101 or the WiFi module 102 or stored in the memory 109 into an audio signal and output as sound when the mobile terminal 1000 is in a call signal reception mode, a call mode, a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, a broadcast reception mode, or the like. Also, the audio output unit 103 may also provide audio output related to a specific function performed by the mobile terminal 1000 (e.g., a call signal reception sound, a message reception sound, etc.). The audio output unit 103 may include a speaker, a buzzer, and the like.

The a/V input unit 104 is used to receive audio or video signals. The a/V input Unit 104 may include a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) 1041 and a microphone 1042, the Graphics processor 1041 Processing image data of still pictures or video obtained by an image capturing device (e.g., a camera) in a video capturing mode or an image capturing mode. The processed image frames may be displayed on the display unit 106. The image frames processed by the graphic processor 1041 may be stored in the memory 109 (or other storage medium) or transmitted via the radio frequency unit 101 or the WiFi module 102. The microphone 1042 may receive sounds (audio data) via the microphone 1042 in a phone call mode, a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, or the like, and may be capable of processing such sounds into audio data. The processed audio (voice) data may be converted into a format output transmittable to a mobile communication base station via the radio frequency unit 101 in case of a phone call mode. The microphone 1042 may implement various types of noise cancellation (or suppression) algorithms to cancel (or suppress) noise or interference generated in the course of receiving and transmitting audio signals.

The mobile terminal 1000 can also include at least one sensor 105, such as a light sensor, motion sensor, and other sensors. Optionally, the light sensor includes an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor, optionally, the ambient light sensor may adjust the brightness of the display panel 1061 according to the brightness of ambient light, and the proximity sensor may turn off the display panel 1061 and/or the backlight when the mobile terminal 1000 moves to the ear. As one of the motion sensors, the accelerometer sensor can detect the magnitude of acceleration in each direction (generally, three axes), can detect the magnitude and direction of gravity when stationary, and can be used for applications of recognizing the posture of a mobile phone (such as horizontal and vertical screen switching, related games, magnetometer posture calibration), vibration recognition related functions (such as pedometer and tapping), and the like; as for other sensors such as a fingerprint sensor, a pressure sensor, an iris sensor, a molecular sensor, a gyroscope, a barometer, a hygrometer, a thermometer, and an infrared sensor, which can be configured on the mobile phone, further description is omitted here.

The display unit 106 is used to display information input by a user or information provided to the user. The Display unit 106 may include a Display panel 1061, and the Display panel 1061 may be configured in the form of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED), or the like.

The user input unit 107 may be used to receive input numeric or character information and generate key signal inputs related to user settings and function control of the mobile terminal. Alternatively, the user input unit 107 may include a touch panel 1071 and other input devices 1072. The touch panel 1071, also referred to as a touch screen, may collect a touch operation performed by a user on or near the touch panel 1071 (e.g., an operation performed by the user on or near the touch panel 1071 using a finger, a stylus, or any other suitable object or accessory), and drive a corresponding connection device according to a predetermined program. The touch panel 1071 may include two parts of a touch detection device and a touch controller. Optionally, the touch detection device detects a touch orientation of a user, detects a signal caused by a touch operation, and transmits the signal to the touch controller; the touch controller receives touch information from the touch sensing device, converts the touch information into touch point coordinates, sends the touch point coordinates to the processor 110, and can receive and execute commands sent by the processor 110. Alternatively, the touch panel 1071 may be implemented in various types, such as resistive, capacitive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave. In addition to the touch panel 1071, the user input unit 107 may include other input devices 1072. Optionally, other input devices 1072 may include, but are not limited to, one or more of a physical keyboard, function keys (e.g., volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, a joystick, and the like, and are not limited thereto.

Alternatively, the touch panel 1071 may cover the display panel 1061, and when the touch panel 1071 detects a touch operation thereon or nearby, the touch panel 1071 transmits the touch operation to the processor 110 to determine the type of the touch event, and then the processor 110 provides a corresponding visual output on the display panel 1061 according to the type of the touch event. Although in fig. 4, the touch panel 1071 and the display panel 1061 are two independent components to implement the input and output functions of the mobile terminal, in some embodiments, the touch panel 1071 and the display panel 1061 may be integrated to implement the input and output functions of the mobile terminal, and is not limited herein.

The interface unit 108 serves as an interface through which at least one external device is connected to the mobile terminal 1000. For example, the external device may include a wired or wireless headset port, an external power supply (or battery charger) port, a wired or wireless data port, a memory card port, a port for connecting a device having an identification module, an audio input/output (I/O) port, a video I/O port, an earphone port, and the like. The interface unit 108 may be used to receive input (e.g., data information, power, etc.) from external devices and transmit the received input to one or more elements within the mobile terminal 1000 or may be used to transmit data between the mobile terminal 1000 and external devices.

The memory 109 may be used to store software programs as well as various data. The memory 109 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, and optionally, the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program (such as a sound playing function, an image playing function, and the like) required by at least one function, and the like; the storage data area may store data (such as audio data, a phonebook, etc.) created according to the use of the cellular phone, and the like. Optionally, the memory 109 may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid state storage device.

The processor 110 is a control center of the mobile terminal, connects various parts of the entire mobile terminal using various interfaces and lines, and performs various functions of the mobile terminal and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the memory 109 and calling data stored in the memory 109, thereby performing overall monitoring of the mobile terminal. Processor 110 may include one or more processing units; preferably, the processor 110 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor, optionally, the application processor mainly handles operating systems, user interfaces, application programs, etc., and the modem processor mainly handles wireless communications. It will be appreciated that the modem processor described above may not be integrated into the processor 110.

The mobile terminal 1000 may further include a power supply 111 (e.g., a battery) for supplying power to various components, and preferably, the power supply 111 may be logically connected to the processor 110 via a power management system, so as to manage charging, discharging, and power consumption management functions via the power management system.

Although not shown in fig. 4, the mobile terminal 1000 may further include a bluetooth module, etc., which is not described herein again.

It is understood that the mobile terminal 1000 may be an electronic device, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a wearable electronic device (e.g., a smart watch) with wireless communication function, and the like, which includes functions such as an e-book, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and/or a music player. The electronic device may also be other electronic devices such as a Laptop computer (Laptop) with a touch sensitive surface (e.g., a touch panel), etc. In some embodiments, the electronic device may have a communication function, that is, may establish communication with a network through a 2G (second generation mobile phone communication specification), a 3G (third generation mobile phone communication specification), a 4G (fourth generation mobile phone communication specification), a 5G (fifth generation mobile phone communication specification), or a W-LAN (wireless local area network) or a communication method that may appear in the future. For the sake of brevity, no further limitations are imposed on this embodiment of the present application.

The mobile terminal provided by the embodiment of the invention includes but is not limited to a terminal loaded with an iOS, Android or other operating systems, such as a mobile phone. Other terminals are also possible, such as a laptop or tablet computer with a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screen display and/or a touch pad).

It should be understood that the application of the present application is not limited to the above examples, and that modifications or changes may be made by those skilled in the art based on the above description, and all such modifications and changes are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or a portion of the above-described embodiments may be implemented and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A folding mechanism is applied to a mobile terminal with a flexible screen and comprises a first shell, a second shell, a rotating part and a sliding part; wherein:

the first shell and the second shell are rotatably connected through the rotating portion, the sliding portion is connected to the second shell in a sliding mode and moves towards or away from the first shell relative to the second shell, and the first shell and the sliding portion are connected with two opposite sides of the flexible screen respectively.

2. The folding mechanism of claim 1 wherein said first housing includes a first base plate and a first bezel, said first bezel being disposed around a peripheral side edge of said first base plate, one side of said flexible screen being fixedly attached to a side of said first base plate remote from said rotating portion.

3. The folding mechanism of claim 2, wherein the second housing includes a second bottom plate and a second rim, the second rim is disposed around a peripheral edge of the second bottom plate and forms an accommodating space with the second bottom plate, and the sliding portion is disposed in the accommodating space and can slide relative to the second bottom plate.

4. The folding mechanism of claim 3 wherein said second housing further comprises at least one slide rail, said slide rail being removably mounted to said second base plate, and said slide rail having a length direction perpendicular to the direction of the axis of rotation of said rotating portion; the sliding part is connected to the sliding rail in a sliding mode and moves towards the direction close to or far away from the first shell relative to the second shell, so that the flexible screen is unfolded or folded.

5. The folding mechanism of claim 3 wherein said second housing further comprises at least one pre-reserved shooting position, said pre-reserved shooting position being disposed on a side of said second base plate remote from said rotating portion and adjacent to said second rim, said pre-reserved shooting position being used for mounting a pre-shooting device; when the first shell and the second shell are opened through rotation of the rotating portion, the flexible screen is in an unfolded state, and the reserved forward-shooting position is exposed.

6. The folding mechanism of claim 3, wherein said rotating portion is fixedly connected to said first rim of said first housing and said second rim of said second housing, respectively, to allow relative opening and closing between said first housing and said second housing.

7. The folding mechanism of claim 4 wherein said sliding portion includes a fixed plate, a side of said fixed plate facing away from said second base plate is fixedly connected to a side of said flexible screen, and an opposite side of said flexible screen is fixedly connected to a side of said first housing remote from said rotating portion.

8. The folding mechanism of claim 7, wherein said sliding portion further comprises at least one sliding block, said sliding block is disposed on a side of said second bottom plate facing said fixed plate and is slidably connected to said sliding rail; the slider drives the fixed plate to move along the slide rail in a direction close to or far away from the first shell, and the fixed plate drives one side of the flexible screen to move relative to the slide rail in a direction close to or far away from the first shell, so that the flexible screen is unfolded or folded.

9. The folding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein said sliding portion further comprises an elastic member, one end of said elastic member is fixedly connected to a side of said fixed plate of said sliding portion away from said rotating portion, the other end of said elastic member opposite to said fixed plate is fixedly connected to a side of said second housing away from said rotating portion, and the direction of extension and retraction of said elastic member is the same as the direction of movement of said fixed plate.

10. A mobile terminal characterized by comprising a folding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 9.