Abstract:
A portable information apparatus comprises a first housing, and a second housing which is mounted to the first housing in such a manner that it can be rocked freely, with its main face facing the first housing, and which includes a panel-like display device with a display screen exposed at the main face and a hinge member to mount the display device in the second housing, wherein the hinge member includes a fixed member fixed to the second housing and an extended member mounted to the fixed member and intervening between the display device and the inner wall of the second housing, and the extended member includes a pressing section which presses against the side face of the display device and a flexible curved section which is provided so as to be continuous with the pressing section and which is formed convexly at the inner wall of the second housing.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-011312, filed Jan. 21, 2002, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    This invention relates to a portable information apparatus with a liquid-crystal display device  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    A portable information apparatus, such as a laptop or a notebook computer or a word processor, is roughly composed of two units as shown in perspective views of FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIG. 7A shows the opened state of the apparatus and FIG. 7B shows the closed state of the apparatus. Specifically, one unit is a body  131  which has the function of inputting, processing, and storing information. The other unit is a display section  133  which has a display screen  132  for displaying information. The body  131  and the display section  133 , which are connected electrically with an FPC (Flat Package Cable), electric wires, or the like, are capable of displaying the information from the body freely on the display section  133 .  
           [0006]    The body  131  and the display section  133  are connected via hinge parts  134  in such a manner that they can be opened and closed freely. The hinge parts  134 , whose configuration is shown in FIG. 8, are fixed to the body  131 . The display section  133  can therefore be opened and closed freely to the body  131  as needed. Giving suitable friction to the rotating sections of the hinge parts  134  makes it possible to keep the opening angle of the display section  133 . That is, the user of the portable information apparatus can do setting, with the display section  133  inclined at an easy-to-see, easy-to-use angle. When the user doesn&#39;t use the portable information apparatus, he or she can close the display section  133  in such a manner that the display screen  132  is housed inside the apparatus. As a result, the fragile display screen  132  can be protected.  
           [0007]    [0007]FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the display section  133 . As shown in FIG. 9, the display section  133  is generally composed of a liquid-crystal display device  135  from an energy-saving viewpoint. To protect the liquid-crystal display device  135  from external forces, such as push or drop impact, the display device  135  is contained in a housing  136 . The housing  136  is formed in a resin mold made of PC/ABS resin or carbon-fiber-added, glass-fiber-added, or inorganic filler-added PC/ABS resin. Alternatively, the housing  136  is made of magnesium alloy or aluminium alloy. The housing  136  is composed of a cover housing  137  for protecting the surfaces of the liquid-crystal display device  135  excluding the display screen  132  and a frame housing  138  for protecting the periphery of the display screen  132 . The liquid-crystal display device  135  is fixed to the cover housing  136  by means of hinge metal fittings  139 .  
           [0008]    With the body  131  engaged with the display section  133 , when the display section  133  is opened, if the hinge metal fittings  139  are supported only by the hinge parts  134 , great resistance is produced at the supporting sections, because the supporting sections at which the hinge parts  134  support the display section  133  are short. Consequently, stress is concentrated at the roots of the cover housing  137  supported by the hinge parts  134 . Therefore, the repeated opening and closing of the display section  133  can do damage to the roots of the cover housing  137 . To avoid this problem, the hinge metal fittings  139  are used structurally so as to act as what is obtained by lengthening the supporting sections of the hinge parts  134  in the direction in which the display section  133  is supported. That is, the cover housing  137  is supported in such a manner that not only area A but also area B of the hinge metal fitting can receive the load imposed when the display section  133  is opened. The hinge metal fitting  139  is formed by cutting a metal plate and bending the resulting plate. In this case, area A screwed to the hinge part  134  provided on the body  131  side and area B mechanically connected to the cover housing  137  and liquid-crystal display device  135  are formed in such a manner that area A and area B are perpendicular to each other. Area B is located in the spacing between the cover housing  137  and the liquid-crystal display device  135  at right and left with respect to the display screen. Area B is screwed to the cover housing  137  and liquid-crystal display device  135  at a plurality of places or is fastened to the latter in a similar manner. The screwed section of area A also has the function of preventing damage.  
           [0009]    [0009]FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram to help explain the fixing structure using the hinge metal fittings  139 . The liquid-crystal display device  135  has two fastening sections formed at symmetrical positions on the side faces. On one side-face side, the fastening section close to the hinge is screwed via the hinge metal fitting  139  to the cover housing  137 . On the other side-face side, the fastening section is screwed directly to the cover housing  137  without a hinge metal fitting  139 . On the other side-face side, a projecting spacer  140  (shown in FIGS. 11C and 11D explained later) formed at the side face of the liquid-crystal display device  135  is inserted into an engaging hole made in the cover housing  137  and hinge metal fitting  139 , thereby engaging with the hole.  
           [0010]    [0010]FIGS. 11A to  11 D are plan views and side views to help explain fastening methods at the fastening sections. The fastening methods are roughly divided into the following three types: (1) a method of fastening the cover housing  137 , hinge metal fitting  139 , and the liquid-crystal display device  135  together, (2) a method of screwing the liquid-crystal display device  135  and the cover housing  137 , and the cover  137  together, and (3) a method of allowing the liquid-crystal display device  135  to move in a specific direction with respect to the hinge metal fitting  139  and cover housing  137 .  
           [0011]    [0011]FIGS. 11A and 11B show the method in item (1). A hole whose diameter is larger than the thread&#39;s outside diameter of a screw  141  and smaller than the head of the screw  141 . The screw  141  is screwed into a female screw formed at the side face of the liquid-crystal display device  135 . At the cover housing  137  of the screw fastening section, a pedestal  143  is formed from an concave portion of a rib  142  so as to prevent the head of the screw from projecting from the cover housing.  
           [0012]    [0012]FIGS. 12A and 12B show the method in item (2). Since the hinge metal fitting  139  extends only to half of the right and left side faces of the liquid-crystal display device  135 , the liquid-crystal display device  135  and the cover housing  137  are screwed together directly at a place to which the screwed section of area A does not reach.  
           [0013]    [0013]FIGS. 13A, 13B,  14 A, and  14 B show the method in item (3).  
           [0014]    To absorb the variation of tolerance in the liquid-crystal display device  135 , the screwing of the liquid-crystal display device  135  and the cover housing  137  used in item (1) and item (2) is done only at either right or left with respect to the display screen  132 . On the other hand, on the opposite side, the liquid-crystal display device  135  is designed to be movable with respect to the hinge metal fitting  139  and cover housing  137 . That is, the spacer  140  provided on the liquid-crystal display device  135  is guided into the hole (or a long hole) made in the hinge metal fitting  139  and cover housing  137 , which enables as much displacement as the variation of tolerance between the hole and the spacer  140 .  
           [0015]    In the above-described fastening methods, however, the methods in item (1) and item (2) require the pedestal  143  for the head of the screw  141  at the side face of the cover housing  137  as shown in FIGS. 11A, 11B,  12 A, and  13 B. In the fastening method of allowing the liquid-crystal display device  135  to move as in item (3), since the hole for guiding the spacer  140  is needed where there is no hinge metal fitting  139 , the same structure as the pedestal  143  has to be provided. When a pedestal is provided on the right and left side faces of the inside of the cover housing  137 , the rib  142  (shown in FIGS. 11B, 12B, and  14 B) connected to the pedestal from inside the cover housing  137  is required to secure the strength of the pedestal.  
           [0016]    [0016]FIG. 15A shows a state of a product before collision. When the product drops in the right-to-left direction with respect to the display screen and the side face of the display section receives impact, the rib  142  fixed with the screw  141  is deformed due to the impact as shown in FIG. 15B showing a state of the product after the collision. Generally, the longer the distance the product moves from when it receives the impact load until its speed decreases to zero, that is, the longer the braking distance, the lower the produced acceleration. However, since the rib  142  stands in the direction in which the product drops, it serves to restrict the displacement of the liquid-crystal display device  135 . This gives a high acceleration to the liquid-crystal display device  135 , with the result that the liquid-crystal display device  135  can be broken.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0017]    An object of the present invention is to provide not only a mounting structure of a liquid-crystal display device which prevents the housing of the display section fixing the hinges from being broken even when the display section is opened and closed repeatedly and improves the drop strength, but also a portable information apparatus using the mounting structure.  
           [0018]    To solve the above problems and achieve the object, a portable information apparatus comprising: a first housing; and a second housing which is mounted to the first housing in such a manner that it can be rocked freely, with its main face facing the first housing, and which includes a panel-like display device with a display screen exposed at the main face and a hinge member to mount the display device in the second housing, wherein the hinge member includes a fixed member fixed to the second housing and an extended member mounted to the fixed member and intervening between the display device and the inner wall of the second housing, and the extended member includes a pressing section which presses against the side face of the display device and a flexible curved section which is provided so as to be continuous with the pressing section and which is formed convexly at the inner wall of the second housing. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a portable information apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1B is a plan view of the main part of the portable information apparatus;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 1C is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the portable information apparatus;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a liquid-crystal display device mounted in a cover housing;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3A is a graph for a history of acceleration in a conventional structure by drop impact analysis and FIG. 3B is a graph for a history of acceleration in a structure according to the present invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 schematically shows a hinge member according to a second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 5 schematically shows a hinge member according to a third embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 6 schematically shows a hinge member according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the portable information apparatus, with the display section opened, and FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the portable information apparatus, with the display section closed;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 8 shows the configuration of a hinge part;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 9 is an exploded view of a conventional display section;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 10 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a fixing structure using conventional hinge metal fittings;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIGS. 11A and 11B are a side view and a plan view of a conventional fastening section, respectively;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIGS. 12A and 12B are a side view and a plan view of another conventional fastening section, respectively;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIGS. 13A and 13B are a side view and a plan view of still another conventional fastening section, respectively;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIGS. 14A and 14B are a side view and a plan view of still another conventional fastening section, respectively; and  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 15A is a schematic diagram of a state of a product before a collision and FIG. 15B is a schematic diagram of a state of the product after the collision. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0036]    [0036]FIG. 1A shows a portable information apparatus  10 , such as a laptop or a notebook personal computer or a word processor. As shown in FIG. 1A, the portable information apparatus  10  includes a first body  20  and a second body  30  joined with each other in such a manner that they can be opened and closed. The first body  20 , which has a box-like body housing  21 , includes not only a keyboard  22  and an input device, such as a pointing device, but also a CPU-carrying motherboard  24  and a hard disk  25 .  
         [0037]    The second body  30  has a display section housing  31 . The display section housing  31  is composed of a box-like cover housing  32  with its top opened and a frame housing  33  to be mounted in the opening of the cover housing  32 . Inside the display section housing  31 , a liquid-crystal display device  34  for displaying information is housed. In the figure, numeral  34   a  indicates the display screen of the liquid-crystal display device,  34   b  indicates the left side face, and  34   c  indicates the right side face.  
         [0038]    The body housing  21  and the display section housing  31  are joined with each other via hinge parts  26  shown in FIG. 1C in such a manner that they can be opened and closed. When the portable information apparatus is not used or is being carried, closing the body housing  21  and the display section housing  31  so as to stack them one on top of the other enables the display screen  34   a  of the liquid-crystal display device  34  to be protected. Giving suitable friction to the rotating mechanisms  26   a  of the hinge parts  26  makes it possible to keep the opening angle of the second body  30 .  
         [0039]    The motherboard  24  and the liquid-crystal display device  34  are connected electrically by means of FPC (Flat Package Cable), electric wires, or the like.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 1B is a plan view of the liquid-crystal display device  34  mounted in the cover housing  32 . In FIG. 1B, cylindrical projecting sections  35   a ,  35   b  are formed close to the upper end and the lower end, respectively, at the right side face of the liquid-crystal display device  34 . A cylindrical projecting section  35   c  is formed close to the upper end at the left side face  34   b . In addition, a female screw  36  is provided close to the lower end at the left side face  34   b  of the liquid-crystal display device  34  in FIG. 1B.  
         [0041]    In FIG. 1B, numerals  40 ,  50  indicate hinge members made of elastic metal material (e.g., SUS). The hinge member  40  includes a fixed member  41  screwed to the cover housing  32  by means of a male screw S and an extended member  42  which is formed integrally with the fixed member  41  and provided along the spacing between the side face of the liquid-crystal display device  34  and the inner wall P of the cover housing  32 .  
         [0042]    The extended member  42  is composed of a first flat plate section  43 , a curved section  44 , a second flat plate section  45 . The first flat plate section  43  extend almost parallel to the left side  34   b  of the liquid-crystal display device  34  and has at least one part contacting the left side  34   b  of the device  34 . The curved section  44  is continuous with the first flat plate  43 . The second flat plate section  45  extends almost parallel to the left side  34   b  of the device  34  and has at least one part contacting the left side  34   b  of the device  34 . The first flat plate section  43  has a hole  43   a . A male screw S lies in the hole  43   a  and set in screw engagement with the female screw  36  of the liquid-crystal display device  34 . The curved section  44  has a ridge section  44   a , a flat top section  44   b , and a ridge section  44   c . The ridge section  44   a  extends the first flat plate section  43 , slantwise to the inner wall P. The flat top section  44   b  is continuous with the ridge section  44   a  and has at least one part contacting the inner wall P. The ridge section  44   c  is continuous with the top section  44   b , extends slantwise to the inner wall P and is coupled to the second flat plate section  44 . At the top section  44   b , a concave section  44   d  is formed. In addition, the second flat plate section  45  has a hole  45   a . The projecting section  35   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34  is inserted in the hole  45   a  and can freely side in the hole. A rib  45   b  is provided at the tip of the second flat plate section  45 .  
         [0043]    The hinge member  50  includes a fixed member  51  screwed to the cover housing  32  by means of a male screw S and an extended member  52  which is formed integrally with the fixed member  51  and provided along the spacing between the side face of the liquid-crystal display device  34  and the inner wall Q of the cover housing  32 .  
         [0044]    The extended member  52  is composed of a first flat plate section  53 , a curved section  54 , and a second flat plate section  55 . The flat plate section  53  extend almost parallel to the right side  34   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34  and has at least one part contacting the right side  34   c  of the device  34 . The curved section  54  is continuous with the first flat plate  53 . The second flat plate section  55  extends almost parallel to the right side  34   c  of the device  34  and has at least one part contacting the right side  34   c  of the device  34 . The first flat plate section  53  has a hole  53   a . The projecting section  35   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34  is inserted in the hole  53   a  and can freely slide in the hole  53   a . The curved section  54  has a ridge section  54   a , a flat top section  54   b , and a ridge section  54   c . The ridge section  54   a  extends from the first flat plate section  53 , slantwise to the inner wall P. The flat top section  54   b  is continuous with the ridge section  54   a  and contacts the inner wall Q. The ridge section  54   c  is continuous with the top section  54   b , extends slantwise to the inner wall P and is coupled to the second flat plate section  54 . At the top section  54   b , a concave section  54   d  is formed. In addition, a hole  55   a  is made in the second flat plate section  55 . The projecting section  35   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34  is inserted into the hole  55   a  in such a manner that it slides freely into the hole. A rib  55   b  is provided at the tip of the second flat plate section  55 .  
         [0045]    The extended sections  42 ,  52  enable both of the side faces  34   b ,  34   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34  to be held elastically against the cover housing  32 .  
         [0046]    The shape of the curved sections  44 ,  54  of the hinge parts  40 ,  50  has only to be capable of giving nearly uniform elasticity in both of the right and left directions in such a manner that both of the side faces  34   b ,  34   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34  become parallel with the inner walls P, Q of the cover housing  32 . As described above, a trapezoid shape with no base in its side view has only to be formed at each of the inner walls in such a manner that the shape projects toward the inner wall. If this is the case, the top sections  44   b  and  54   b  contact the inner walls P and Q of the cover housing  32 . Although the ridge portions  44   a ,  44   c ,  54   a  and  54   c  may be curved, not straight, the top sections  44   b  and  54   b  should better be flat and straight, extending almost parallel to the inner walls P and Q. More than one top section may be provided for each inner wall.  
         [0047]    The hinge parts  40  and  50  may be shaped such that the line connecting the point where either contacts a side of the display device  34  and the point where either contacts or lies nearest the inner surface of the device  34  inclines to the side of the device  43 , not perpendicular to the side of the device  43 .  
         [0048]    The hinge parts  40  and  50  may have only one ridge portion. (The hinge part  40 , for example, may be cut at the concave section  44   d .)  
         [0049]    The top sections  44   b  and  54   b  contact the inner walls P and Q. Instead, they may be coupled to the inner walls P and Q by spacers or the like. The present invention can be applied not only to liquid crystal displays, but also to all portable displays for use in portable information apparatus, such as EL (Electro Luminescent) displays, PDs (Plasma Displays) and FEDs (Field Emission Displays).  
         [0050]    Projecting rib tongues  32   a  for locking the top sections  44   b ,  54   b  of the hinge parts  40 ,  50  are formed at the cover housing  32 . The tongues  32   a  prevent the liquid-crystal display device  34  from coming off the cover housing  32 . The ribs  45   b ,  55   b  of the hinge members  40 ,  50  function as stoppers when the liquid-crystal display device  34  is moved by external forces.  
         [0051]    With the above configuration, when the display section of the liquid-crystal display device  34  drops in the right-to-left direction with respect to the display screen, with the liquid-crystal display device  34  mounted in the cover housing  32 , acceleration produced in the liquid-crystal display device  34  can be decreased, because the curved section  44 ,  54  of the hinge members  40 ,  50  are distorted toward the liquid-crystal display device  34 .  
         [0052]    As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2, when the liquid-crystal display device  34  mounted in the cover housing  32  in each of the embodiment and the prior art was dropped from a height of 100 mm and the right side face  34   c  collided with the display screen of the liquid-crystal display device  34 , drop impact analysis was made to find acceleration in the direction of drop produced in the liquid-crystal display device  34 . In FIG. 2, ch1 to ch5 indicate the measuring positions of acceleration G.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 3A is a graph showing a history of acceleration in the prior art structure. FIG. 3B is a graph showing a history of acceleration in the above-described structure. The abscissa axis indicates time and the ordinate axis indicates acceleration. In both of the graphs, similar trends were measured at ch1 to ch5. It is clear that acceleration is lower in the structure of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3B.  
         [0054]    The result of the comparison has shown that changing the conventional structure in FIG. 3A to the structure of the embodiment in FIG. 3B makes it possible to almost halve the maximum value of the acceleration and therefore alleviate the impact against the liquid-crystal display device  34  remarkably.  
         [0055]    In the portable information apparatus  10 , of the left and right hinge members  40 ,  50 , only the hinge member  40  is screwed to the liquid-crystal display device  34  and the projecting parts  35   a ,  35   b  provided on the liquid-crystal display device  34  are guided and inserted into the holes  53   a ,  55   a  in the hinge member  50 . Therefore, when the second body  30  is manufactured by combining the two types of hinge parts, the assembly tolerance of the parts can be absorbed.  
         [0056]    The projecting tongue  32   a  is provided on each of the right and left inner side faces of the cover housing  32  in such a manner that the tongue is formed as a part of the cover housing  32 . The tongues  32   a  are designed to be covered by the concave sections  44   d ,  54   d  formed at the top of the trapezoid of the top sections  44   b ,  54   b  of the hinge members  40 ,  50 . This prevents the hinge members  40 ,  50  and liquid-crystal display device  34  from separating from and coming off the cover housing  32 .  
         [0057]    Furthermore, the ribs provided on the cover housing  32  restrict the displacement of the free tips of the hinge members  40 ,  50  in the longitudinal direction of the hinge members  40 ,  50 . This enables both of the screwed places and the places locked by the ribs to receive impact, when the display section drops vertically toward the display screen. Consequently, the impact on the screwed places is alleviated, which prevents the screwed places from being damaged.  
         [0058]    As described above, in the portable information apparatus  10  according to the first embodiment, the hinge members  40 ,  50  enable the liquid-crystal display device  34  not only to be used as means for being mounted in the cover housing  32  but also to add the function of withstanding external vibration or impact.  
         [0059]    [0059]FIG. 4 schematically shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, a hinge member  60  is used in place of the hinge members  40 ,  50 . The hinge member  60  includes a fixed member  61  screwed to the cover housing  32  by means of a male screw S and an extended member  62  which is formed integrally with the fixed member  61  and provided along the spacing between the side face of the liquid-crystal display device  34  and the inner wall Q of the cover housing  32 .  
         [0060]    The extended member  62  is composed of a first flat plate section  63  provided so as to make close contact with the right side face  34   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34 , a first curved section  64 , a second flat plate section  65 , a second curved section  66 , and a third flat plate section  67 . Specifically, in the second embodiment, the spring force of the hinge member  60  is produced in such a manner that the force is distributed to the first and second curved sections  64 ,  66  according to the number of the curved sections. That is, the larger the number of curved sections, the higher the rigidity of the hinge member  60  against drop impact, since more springs are arranged in parallel. When a dropping height is large, or when the mass of the liquid-crystal display device  34  is large, high rigidity is required. In contrast, when the dropping height is small, or when the mass of the liquid-crystal display device  34  is small, low rigidity is required, because too high rigidity does not provide a suitable spring characteristic. That is, when a uniform curve is given to the hinge member  60 , the number of curved sections has only to be determined according to the required rigidity.  
         [0061]    [0061]FIG. 5 schematically shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, a hinge member  70  is used in place of the hinge members  40 ,  50 .  
         [0062]    The hinge member  70  includes a fixed member  71  screwed to the cover housing  32  by means of a male screw S and an extended member  72  which is formed integrally with the fixed member  71  and provided along the spacing between the side face of the liquid-crystal display device  34  and the inner wall Q of the cover housing  32 .  
         [0063]    The extended member  72  is composed of a first flat plate section  73  provided so as to make close contact with the right side face  34   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34 , a first curved section  74 , a second flat plate section  75  provided so as to make close contact with the right side face  34   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34 , a second curved section  76 , and a third flat plate section  77  provided so as to make close contact with the right side face  34   c  of the liquid-crystal display device  34 .  
         [0064]    In the third embodiment, it is assumed that, when the portable information apparatus  10  drops, there are two cases: one case where the apparatus  10  falls from a small height (that is, the hinge with a low rigidity is required) and the other case where the apparatus  10  falls from a large height (that is, the hinge with a high rigidity is required).  
         [0065]    Under this assumption, a first and a second curved section  74 ,  76  differing in size are formed in the hinge member  60  as shown in FIG. 5. When the dropping height is small, the second curved section  76  functions as a spring. When the dropping height is large, the second curved section  76 , together with the first curved section  74 , functions as a spring. As a result, the rigidity of the hinge member  70  can be changed according to the dropping height. Of course, the number of types of curved sections the single hinge member  70  has is not limited to two and further the number of curved sections is not limited to two. In the ridge sections of the curved sections of the hinge member  70 , the steeper their slope, the higher the rigidity of the spring. For example, the slope of the second curved section  76  is made steeper than that of the first curved section  74 . This makes the rigidity of the spring of the second curved section  76  higher.  
         [0066]    [0066]FIG. 6 schematically shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the fourth embodiment, a hinge member  80  is used in place of the hinge members  40 ,  50 .  
         [0067]    While in the first to third embodiments, a trapezoid curved section has been formed, a trapezoid curved section is not formed in the hinge member  80 . Specifically, the hinge member  80  includes a fixed member  81  screwed to the cover housing  32  by means of a male screw S and an extended member  82  which is formed integrally with the fixed member  81  and provided along the spacing between the side face of the liquid-crystal display device  34  and the inner wall Q of the cover housing  32 .  
         [0068]    The extended member  82  is so formed that first to fourth arc-like curved sections  83  to  86  describe a large arc. All of the convex side of the arc is on the inner wall Q side. In this case, the top section  84   a  of the second curved section  84  and the top section  86   a  of the fourth curved section  86  make contact with the cover housing  32 . With this structure, as the dropping height increases, the curved sections functioning as a spring also increases, both of a large dropping height and a small dropping height can be dealt with.  
         [0069]    As described above, according to the above embodiments, since the side faces of the liquid-crystal display device  34  are supported elastically and fixed to the cover housing  32 , the cover housing  32  to which the hinges are fixed will not be broken, even when the display section is opened and closed repeatedly. Furthermore, with the above structure, the drop strength is improved.  
         [0070]    Therefore, even when a portable information apparatus, such as a laptop or notebook personal computer or a word processor, undergoes vibration or impact from the outside world, it is possible to prevent the apparatus from being damaged heavily.  
         [0071]    Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.