JP2010223385A - Hinge mechanism and electronic equipment mounted therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hinge mechanism having a reduced size and improved strength against an external load by reducing the types and number of structural components. <P>SOLUTION: The hinge mechanism 10 is constituted of: first and second shaft members 11, 12; first and second holding members 13, 14 for holding the shaft members at both sides; and a fixing member 15 and a locking member 16 for fastening the holding members. The first and second shaft members 11, 12 consist of: rotary elliptical body parts 11<SB>1</SB>, 12<SB>1</SB>serving as rotating shafts and having rotary elliptical body shapes; casing connection parts 11<SB>2</SB>, 12<SB>2</SB>connected to casings; and connection parts 11<SB>3</SB>, 12<SB>3</SB>connecting the rotary elliptical body parts to the casing connection parts, respectively. Contact portions of the holding members 13, 14 with the rotary elliptical body parts 11<SB>1</SB>, 12<SB>1</SB>have shapes similar to the surface shapes of the rotary elliptical body parts 11<SB>1</SB>, 12<SB>1</SB>. The holding members 13, 14 function as bearings, and also function so as to impart torque to the shaft members 11, 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a hinge mechanism mounted on a foldable electronic device typified by a portable information terminal, in particular, simplification of the structure, accompanied by a reduction in the number of parts, miniaturization, and improvement in strength against an external load. The present invention relates to a hinge mechanism that realizes the above.

  In recent years, foldable portable information terminals in which a casing having a display unit and a casing having an operation unit are connected to each other so as to be opened and closed by a hinge mechanism have become widespread because of its high portability. . In addition, in order to improve the operability associated with the increase in functionality, a portable information terminal whose style (relative position between housings) changes depending on the software functions used, such as email input, camera shooting, Web viewing, and TV viewing. A machine has appeared.

Of the terminals in which the style is changed, FIG. 6A, as shown in FIG. 6B, a first casing 101 arranged a display unit 101 ₁ to the terminal-friendly搬時, second case equipped with operation unit 102 ₁ body 102 and the display unit 101 ₁ and the operation unit 102 ₁ and the folded so as to face the [carrying state, FIG 6A (a)] with, at the time of Web browsing and TV viewing and touch panel operation, the carry state between casing relative position and 360 ° open state, the first casing 101 and the second and the housing 102 are foldable [360 ° open state display unit 101 ₁ and the operation unit 102 ₁ so as to turn the table, FIG. 6B (d)] An information terminal 100 capable of opening 360 ° is known. In this information terminal, from the closed state shown in FIG. 6A (a), the first casing 101 and the second casing 102 are opened 90 degrees around the open / close shafts 57 and 58, respectively, and the information terminal shown in FIG. 6A (b). As shown in FIG. 6B (c), one housing, for example, the second housing 102 is opened at 180 °, and the first housing 101 is opened at 180 °. Thus, the 360 ° open state shown in FIG.
The information terminal 100 capable of opening 360 ° is configured by connecting a first casing 101 and a second casing 102 by general hinge mechanisms 50 a and 50 b and a connecting member 103.

  Next, a general hinge mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B. 7A (a) is a perspective view of a general hinge mechanism 50, FIG. 7A (b) is an exploded perspective view thereof, and FIG. 7B (c) is an operation shown by a cross section taken along the line KK of FIG. 7A (a). It is explanatory drawing. The hinge mechanism 50 includes a shaft member 51 serving as a shaft at the time of a rotation operation, a cylindrical first sliding member 52 that idles in a circumferential direction with respect to the shaft member 51, and a sliding member. A cylindrical second sliding member 53 that abuts 52 and rotates in conjunction with the shaft member 51, and a load generation source 54 that abuts the surface of the sliding member 53 opposite to the abutting surface of the sliding member 52. And a connecting member 56 that rotates in conjunction with the shaft member 51 and a casing connecting member 55 that idles in the circumferential direction with respect to the shaft member 51. Here, the casing connecting member 55 is used to connect the hinge mechanism to the first and second casings 101 and 102, and the connecting member 56 is used to connect to the connecting member 103. Alternatively, a part of the connecting member 103 is configured. The shaft member 51 corresponds to the opening / closing shafts 57 and 58.

  For example, when the shaft member 51 is rotated in the S direction of FIG. 7B (c), the sliding member 53 rotates in the S direction in conjunction with the shaft member 51. On the other hand, since the sliding member 52 idles with respect to the shaft member 51, the sliding member 52 and the sliding member 53 slide. Further, since a load P is applied from the load generation source 54 to the sliding member 53, a large frictional force is generated between the sliding member 52 and the sliding member 53. This frictional force generates a torque T (housing position holding torque) for holding (temporarily fixing) the opening / closing position of the housing in the direction opposite to the S direction. Further, the designer provides a convex concave portion on the contact surface between the sliding member 52 and the sliding member 53 as necessary, and the convex portion and the concave portion mesh at the rotation position so that the housing position holding torque T varies. Sometimes. The fluctuation of the torque T is perceived by the user as a click feeling and a torque that fixes the relative position between the casings, thereby improving the usability of the portable information terminal. In addition, this kind of general structure hinge mechanism is described, for example, in Patent Document 1.

JP 2006-64000 A

  However, in the conventional general hinge mechanism as described above, from the viewpoint of manufacturing the parts, the parts that generate the action such as the rotational operation center, torque generation, and inter-chassis connection are individually divided (six types), The hinge mechanism is composed of individual components. Due to this relationship, the types of components and the number of components are increased, and there is a limit to the miniaturization of the hinge mechanism due to the strength of components against the external load. On the other hand, when miniaturization is attempted, there arises a problem that strength against an external load is reduced.

  To lay down the limits to this miniaturization, the components of the hinge mechanism are subject to various problems such as bending, cracking, and deformation caused by external loads such as drop impact, twisting, bending, and load from the load source. Some size is required to prevent the component itself. For example, in the case of a general hinge mechanism for a portable information terminal, the shaft member has a diameter of at least about 1.5 mm in order to ensure the strength against a load from dropping impact, twisting, bending, etc. In order to secure strength against dropping impact and load from the load source, the diameter increased by about 1mm in the radial direction from the hole through which the shaft member passes (diameter is 2mm plus the diameter of the shaft member) Is required. Therefore, in the hinge mechanism itself for a general portable information terminal, the limit of downsizing in the radial direction is about 3.5 mm.

On the other hand, as an example of strength reduction, if the size of the hinge mechanism is reduced, the size of each component of the hinge mechanism is reduced, so the strength of the component itself is reduced due to size reduction and the area subjected to external loads is reduced. As a result, a factor such as an increase in pressure occurs, and the strength of the component parts alone decreases. As a result, for example, the shaft member is deformed by a drop impact load, and the sliding member is easily broken by the load of the load generation source.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and the object thereof is to reduce the types and the number of components, and accordingly, the size can be reduced. It is to provide a hinge mechanism capable of improving the strength against an external load.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a hinge mechanism for connecting two housings of an electronic device having a first housing and a second housing which are connected to be openable and closable. ,
A first spheroid part having a spheroid shape with the major axis or minor axis of the ellipse as the center of rotation, and the first casing formed directly connected to the first spheroid part A first shaft member having a first housing coupling part for coupling with
A second spheroid part having the same shape as the first spheroid part, and a second spheroid part connected directly to the second spheroid part and connected to the second casing A second shaft member having a housing connecting portion of
The first shaft member and the first shaft member are pressed by pressing the first and second spheroids from the direction of the rotation center so that the rotation centers of the first and second spheroids are parallel to each other. A pair of holding members for simultaneously holding the second shaft member;
And a hinge mechanism characterized in that the first spheroid and the second spheroid are used as the rotation axes of the first and second shaft members, respectively. The

[Action]
The spheroid part of the shaft member is in contact with and held by the holding member, and the spheroid part can be rotated with the spheroid part serving as a rotation axis (a rotation axis of the hinge). The rotating ellipsoidal section has an elliptical cross section, and the abutting portion of the holding member with which the ellipsoidal body abuts is an opening having a shape following the spheroid, so that the rotating direction of the shaft member rotates. In other words, the shaft member, each holding member, and eventually the casing of the terminal connected to the shaft member can be prevented from moving or blurring.

Further, when the shaft member, that is, the spheroid is rotated, the holding member generates a holding force (P in FIG. 4) with respect to the spheroid. At this time, since the surface of the spheroid that is a surface having a certain angle with respect to the holding force is in contact with the holding member, the spheroid part rotating while receiving the holding force on the surface A frictional force is generated at the contact portion between the surface and the holding member. Based on this frictional force, torque is generated in the direction opposite to the rotational direction. Since the shaft member is provided with a connecting portion to the housing, the first housing is connected to the first shaft member, the second housing is connected to the second shaft member, and the holding member By connecting the first shaft member and the second shaft member, the first housing and the second housing are connected. In other words, with the above problem solving means, the operation as a hinge mechanism such as a shaft of rotation operation, generation of torque, and connection between housings can be performed with a small number of parts. Can fulfill. In the hinge mechanism of the present invention, the shaft member is provided with functions such as rotational shaft, torque generation (sliding) and housing connection, and the holding member is provided with functions such as torque generation (sliding and load generation) and bearings. Since each component part has a plurality of functions as a hinge, the number and types of parts can be reduced.
Further, since the torque necessary for the hinge mechanism is obtained by contact between the shaft member (the spheroid part thereof) and the holding member, there is no need to arrange a sliding member for generating torque on the shaft member. This makes it possible to reduce the size.

  Since the contact portion of the shaft member, which is a sliding portion for generating torque, is the surface of the spheroid portion, the contact area is wider than the sliding member of the conventional hinge mechanism. For this reason, the pressure applied to the contact surface from the external load can be reduced, and the strength of the component to the external load can be improved. Moreover, since it is not necessary to arrange | position a sliding component on a shaft member, a shaft member can be enlarged and the intensity | strength of a shaft member can be improved further.

  In the hinge mechanism of the present invention, the two spheroid parts having the housing connecting parts are used as the rotation shafts, and the holding members that hold (hold) them are used as the bearings. Necessary torque can be obtained without using it, and therefore, the type and number of components can be reduced, and downsizing can be realized. Thereby, the intensity | strength with respect to an external load can be improved further.

The perspective view and exploded perspective view which show 1st Embodiment of the hinge mechanism of this invention. The perspective view and sectional drawing of the 1st, 2nd shaft member used for the hinge mechanism of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view and sectional drawing of the 1st, 2nd holding member used for the hinge mechanism of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view and sectional drawing for demonstrating operation | movement of the hinge mechanism of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view and sectional drawing of the 1st shaft member and 1st holding member which are used for the hinge mechanism of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. Opening / closing operation explanatory drawing (the 1) of the portable information terminal rotated 360 degrees comprised using the conventional hinge mechanism. Opening / closing operation explanatory drawing (the 2) of the portable information terminal rotated 360 degrees comprised using the conventional hinge mechanism. The perspective view and exploded perspective view of the conventional general hinge mechanism. Sectional drawing for demonstrating operation | movement of the conventional general hinge mechanism.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
1A and 1B are a perspective view and an exploded perspective view showing a hinge mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This hinge mechanism 10 is for an information terminal that can be opened 360 °. As shown in FIG. 1, the hinge mechanism 10 includes first and second shaft members 11 and 12, first and second holding members 13 and 14 that sandwich and hold these shaft members, and a first The holding member 13 and the second holding member 14 are paired with a fixing member 15 and a stop member 16.

The first shaft member 11 has a box which is connected to the long axis of the ellipse and the spheroidal portion 11 ₁ of the spheroid shape with the rotation axis, the first casing 101 of the information terminal shown in FIG. 6, for example with the body connecting portion 11 _2, and a spheroidal portion 11 ₁ and the connecting portion 11 ₃ which connects the housing connecting portion 11 _2. Here, spheroidal portion 11 ₁ of the center line (corresponding to the long axis of the ellipse), and perpendicular to the center line passing through the housing coupling part 11 ₂ and the connecting portion 11 _3. Similarly, the second shaft member 12 includes a spheroidal portion 12 ₁ of the spheroidal shape the major axis of the ellipse and the rotation shaft, coupled to the second housing 102 of the information terminal shown in FIG. 6, for example is the having a housing coupling portion 12 _2, and a connecting portion 12 ₃ which connects the spheroidal part 12 ₁ and the housing connecting portion 12 _2. Then, are perpendicular to the center line of the spheroid unit 12 _1, the center line passing through the housing connection portion 12 ₂ and the connecting portion 12 _3.

A first shaft member 11 and the second shaft member 12, at its spheroidal portion 11 ₁ and the spheroidal part 12 _1, the first, second holding members 13, 14 each having two openings It is caught. And the 1st, 2nd holding members 13 and 14 are clamped using a pair of fixing member 15 and stop member 16, and are fixed so that it may become mutually parallel. The fixing member 15 and the stop member 16 are coupled by, for example, screwing. At this time, the center line between the spheroidal part 11 ₁ and the spheroidal part 12 ₁ are made parallel, and the respective center lines, first, opening provided in the second holding member 13, 14 centered in agreement of the spheroidal portion 11 ₁ and the spheroidal part 12 ₁ is rotatably supported by the first, second holding members 13 and 14. First, the surface of the spheroidal portion 11 ₁ and the spheroidal part 12 ₁ of the second shaft member 11 and 12, first, the side surface of the opening of the second holding members 13 and 14 (in FIG. 3 equivalents The contact portions 13 ₁ , 13 ₂ , 14 ₁ , 14 ₂ ), and the first and second holding members 13, 14 are tightened by the fixing member 15 and the stop member 16, so that the spheroid portion load (torque) is adapted to occur for 11 ₁ and the spheroidal part 12 _1. Here, the stop member 16 can be omitted because it can be secured to the holding member 14 by an alternative means such as caulking or welding to the holding member 14.

2A is a perspective view of the first shaft member 11, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2A. 2C is a perspective view of the second shaft member 12, and FIG. 2D is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2C.
In FIG. 2B, Y is the major axis of the illustrated ellipse. Spheroidal portion 11 ₁ of the first shaft member 11 are the rotating ellipsoid around the long axis Y of the ellipse shown in FIG. 2 (b), Y is the center of the spheroid 11 ₁ It is also a line. Similarly, in FIG. 2 (d), Y is the major axis of the illustrated ellipse, and is also the center line of the spheroid unit 12 ₁ of the second shaft member 12.

3A is a perspective view of the first holding member 13, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 3A. FIG. 3C is a perspective view of the second holding member 14, and FIG. 3D is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the first holding member 13 has an opening that engages is drilled in the spheroidal portion 11 ₁ and the spheroidal part 12 _1, the side surface of the opening, The contact portions 13 ₁ and 13 ₂ are in contact with the surfaces of the spheroid portions 11 ₁ and 12 ₁ . FIG. 3B virtually shows a cross section passing through the center line Y of the spheroid parts 11 ₁ and 12 ₁ with a dotted line. As shown in FIG. 3B, the openings that engage with the spheroid parts 11 ₁ , 12 ₁ opened in the first holding member 13 are formed in a shape that follows the engaging spheroid parts. Therefore, the contact portions 13 ₁ and 13 ₂ of the first holding member 13 come into surface contact with the surfaces of the spheroid portions 11 ₁ and 12 ₁ . When these members are assembled into the hinge mechanism, the centers of the two openings opened in the holding member 13 coincide with the center line Y of the spheroid parts 11 ₁ and 12 ₁ .
Similarly, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the second holding member 14, an opening is opened to engage the spheroid unit 11 ₁ and the spheroidal part 12 _1, the opening The side surfaces are contact portions 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ that are in contact with the surfaces of the spheroid portions 11 ₁ and 12 ₁ . FIG. 3D virtually shows a cross section passing through the center line Y of the spheroid parts 11 ₁ and 12 ₁ with dotted lines. As shown in FIG. 3D, the openings that engage with the spheroids 11 ₁ , 12 ₁ opened in the second holding member 14 are formed in a shape that follows the spheroid, The contact portions 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ of the second holding member 14 are in surface contact with the surfaces of the spheroid portions 11 ₁ and 12 ₁ . When these members are assembled into the hinge mechanism, the centers of the two openings opened in the holding member 14 coincide with the center line Y of the spheroid parts 11 ₁ and 12 ₁ . When the first and second shaft members 11 and 12 held by the holding members 13 and 14 rotate, the center line Y of the spheroid parts 11 ₁ and 12 ₁ becomes the center of rotation.

[Description of operation]
Next, the operation of the hinge mechanism of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the hinge mechanism 10 according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line EE of FIG. Now, the first shaft member 11 of the hinge mechanism 10, if an attempt to rotate in one direction (arrow Z direction in the drawing) of the center line Y of the spheroidal portion 11 ₁ as the center of rotation, the first holding member since 13 contact portion 13 ₁ and the contact portion 14 ₁ of the second holding member 14 is shaped to follow the shape of the spheroid unit 11 ₁ of the shaft member 11, spheroids of the shaft member 11 part 11 _1, first, will slide and rotate the abutment ₁₃ 1, 14 ₁ Z direction while in contact with the second holding members 13 and 14.

The first shaft member 11, by being held (is sandwiched) between the first holding member 13 in the second holding member 14, the spheroidal part 11 _1, the center line A holding (tightening) load P is generated in a direction parallel to (Y). The spheroid part 11 ₁ constitutes a rotation axis with the center line as the center of rotation, but the contact parts 13 ₁ , 14 _{1 of the} holding members that are in contact with this have a spheroid shape. , the tightening load P, spheroidal portion 11 ₁ is made can be received by (i.e. first shaft member 11) side surface thereof. Here, a frictional force is generated between the spheroid portion 11 _{1 of} the first shaft member 11 and the contact portions 13 ₁ and 14 ₁ of the holding members (the contact surface is in the direction of the load P). Because it has orthogonal components.) This frictional force generates a torque T that holds the position between the casings in the direction opposite to the rotation direction (Z direction). The magnitude of this torque T, holding (clamping) the size of the load P, a distance between the center and the contact surface of the rotating, spheroidal portion 11 ₁ and the contact portion 13 ₁ of the support members, Depends on the coefficient of friction of the contact surface with 14 ₁ . In addition, as described above, the contact surface between the spheroid portion 11 _{1 of} the first shaft member 11 and each holding member is in surface contact, so that the spheroid portion 11 _{1 of the} shaft member 11 is in contact with the surface. The holding members 13 and 14 slide stably, and the torque T is generated stably. Here, to supplement the above-described holding (tightening) load P, when each holding member is made of a rigid body, this load is a pressure with which the fixing member 15 and the stopper member 16 sandwich each holding member. When the member is an elastic body, each holding member is distorted and has a restoring force to return to the original state.

Further, since the shape of the spheroid part 11 _{1 of} the first shaft member 11 and the contact parts 13 ₁ and 14 ₁ of the holding members 13 and 14 are spheroid (the contact surface is a spheroid). Even if it is attempted to move the shaft member 11 in a direction other than the rotation direction (W and X directions in FIG. 4B), the spheroidal portion 11 of the shaft member 11 is not equidistant with respect to the center point of the portion. ₁ interferes with the abutting portions 13 ₁ , 14 _{1 of the} holding members, so that the shaft member 11 is restrained from moving in directions other than the rotation direction around the first rotation shaft 6 (first shaft member 11 Further, the holding members 13 and 14 can be prevented from becoming dull in the casing of the information terminal connected to the hinge. The operation of the first shaft member 11 has been described above, but the same applies to the second shaft member 12.

  As described above, according to the hinge mechanism of the present embodiment, it is possible to open and close between the cases by connecting the cases and performing a rotation operation. It is possible to generate a stable torque without blurring or shaking. Then, by rotating each shaft member by 180 °, the housing can be opened up to 360 ° and can be held at an arbitrary angle.

However ,, to change the shape of the contact portion of the first shaft member 11 of the spheroidal portion 11 ₁ and the second shaft member 12 of the spheroidal portion 12 ₁ and the support members 13 and 14, the abutment The torque generated on the first shaft member 11 and the torque generated on the second shaft member 12 can be made different by changing the surface roughness of the surface. That is, the user can arbitrarily adjust the torque values generated by the first shaft member 11 and the second shaft member 12 as needed. Thus, for example, when the casing is moved by reducing the torque of the first shaft member 11 and increasing the torque on the second shaft member 12, the first shaft member 11 is first rotated, After the rotation of the first shaft member 11 is completed, the second shaft member 12 can be rotated.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the first shaft member 21 used in the hinge mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5B is an FF in FIG. It is sectional drawing in a line. FIG. 5C is a perspective view of the first holding member 23 used in the hinge mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is sectional drawing in the G line. The second shaft member and the second holding member are not shown and will not be described in particular, but they have the same configuration as the first shaft member or the first holding member. is there. As in the case of the first embodiment, the hinge mechanism of the present embodiment is used for an information terminal that can rotate 360 °.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the first shaft member 21 is basically a spheroid formed by rotating around the major axis of the ellipse, as in the first embodiment. shape as spheroidal portion 21 ₁ having, for example, a housing connection portion 21 ₂ which is connected to the first casing 101 shown in FIG. 6, the spheroidal portion 21 ₁ and the housing connection portion 21 ₂ and a connecting portion 21 ₃ which connects the. In the present embodiment, the spheroid part 21 ₁ is formed with a recess 21 ₁₁ in which the surface of the spheroid part 21 ₁ is offset. Surface of the recess 21 ₁₁ also has the shape of a spheroid, and the surface shape of the recess 21 ₁₁ is equivalent to part of its spheroidal portion 21 _1.

As shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D, the first holding member 23 has an opening for holding the spheroid portions of the first shaft member 21 and the second shaft member, The side surface of the opening is made into contact portions 23 ₁ and 23 ₂ having a shape following the surface shape of the spheroid portion 21 ₁ . Here, convex portions 23 ₁₁ and 23 ₂₁ are formed on the contact portions 23 ₁ and 23 ₂ , and the surface shape of the convex portions 23 ₁₁ and 23 ₂₁ is the concave portion 21 ₁₁ of the spheroid portion 21 _1. The surface shape is imitated.
The first holding member 23 cooperates with the second holding member having the same shape as this to sandwich the first and second shaft members and hold them while applying a load. At this time, the center of the opening of the first and second holding members coincides with the center line of the spheroid of the first and second shaft members.

Next, the operation of the hinge mechanism according to the second embodiment will be described. In the information terminal equipped with a hinge mechanism assembled with the shaft member and the holding member shown in Figure 5, the first shaft member 21, the portion other than the concave portion 21 ₁₁ of the spheroidal portion 21 _1, the first When the rotation is performed in contact with the convex portion (23 ₁₁ ) of the second holding member, as in the case of the first embodiment, the torque T that holds the position between the casings by this hinge mechanism. Occurs stably.
Further, the first shaft member 21 is rotated, the concave portion _{21 11} and the first of the first shaft member 21, when the convex portion of the second holding member (23) _{(23 11)} and are engaged in, the Since the holding load and the contact state change from this state, the value of the generated torque varies. That is, as described above, by providing a convex portion and a concave portion on the contact surfaces of the first and second shaft members (21) and the first and second holding members (23), a click feeling and between the housings are provided. Torque that determines the relative position can be generated. Incidentally, by adjusting the width of the recess 21 ₁₁ and the convex portion 23 ₁₁ can adjust the rotation angle for generating a click feeling or the positioning torque. Further, in the drawing, a concave portion is provided on the shaft member 21 side and a convex portion is provided on the holding member 23 side, but conversely, even if a convex portion is provided on the shaft member 21 side and a concave portion is provided on the holding member 23 side. Good.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there. For example, in the embodiment, the spheroid part serving as the rotation axis of the shaft member has the major axis of the ellipse as the center of rotation, but may be a spheroid part having the minor axis as the center of rotation. Good.

10, 50, 50 a, 50 b Hinge mechanism 11, 21 _1st shaft member 11 ₁ , 12 ₁ , 21 ₁ spheroid part 21 ₁₁ recess 11 ₂ , 21 ₂ housing connection part 11 ₃ , 21 ₃ connection part 12 first 2 shaft members 13, 23 first holding members 13 ₁ , 13 ₂ , 14 ₁ , 14 ₂ , 23 ₁ , 23 ₂ abutting portions 23 ₁₁ , 23 ₂₁ convex portions 14 second holding members 15 fixing members 16 stops Member 51 Shaft member 52, 53 Sliding member 54 Load generation source 55 Housing connecting member 56 Connecting member 57, 58 Opening / closing axis P Load T Torque Y Center line of ellipsoid (ellipse major axis)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Information terminal 101 1st housing | casing 101 ₁ Display part 102 2nd housing | casing 102 ₁ Operation part 103 Connecting member

Claims (9)

A hinge mechanism for connecting the two casings of the electronic device having the first casing and the second casing that are connected in an openable and closable manner,
A first spheroid part having a spheroid shape with the major axis or minor axis of the ellipse as the center of rotation, and the first casing formed directly connected to the first spheroid part A first shaft member having a first housing coupling part for coupling with
A second spheroid part having the same shape as the first spheroid part, and a second spheroid part connected directly to the second spheroid part and connected to the second casing A second shaft member having a housing connecting portion of
The first shaft member and the first shaft member are pressed by pressing the first and second spheroids from the direction of the rotation center so that the rotation centers of the first and second spheroids are parallel to each other. A pair of holding members for simultaneously holding the second shaft member;
A hinge mechanism comprising the first spheroid and the second spheroid as rotational axes of the first and second shaft members, respectively.   The opening of the holding member that is in contact with the first and second spheroids has a shape that follows the spheroid so as to be in surface contact with the first and second spheroids. The hinge mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the hinge mechanism is a wall surface.   The hinge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a connecting member for fastening the two members is installed between the two holding members, and the rotational torque of the rotating body is adjusted by the fastening force. mechanism.   The rotation center of the first spheroid and the center line of the first shaft member are orthogonal to each other, and the rotation center of the second spheroid and the center line of the second shaft member are orthogonal to each other. The hinge mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the hinge mechanism is provided.   A concave portion or a convex portion is provided on the surface of the first spheroid portion or the second spheroid portion, and a convex portion or a concave portion is provided on a surface of the holding member that contacts the spheroid portion. The hinge mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the hinge mechanism is characterized in that:   The surface of the concave or convex portion of the first spheroid or the second spheroid is part of the spheroid, and the surface of the holding member is in contact with the spheroid 6. The hinge mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the surface of the provided convex portion or concave portion has a shape that follows a spheroid.   An electronic apparatus comprising the hinge mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the first housing and the second housing can be opened at an angle of 0 ° to 360 °.   The first casing and the second casing can be held open at an arbitrary angle by torque acting on the first spheroid and the second spheroid. Item 9. The electronic device according to Item 7 or 8.

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