Abstract:
A slide mechanism used in portable electronic device is described including a main plate, a slide plate, a parallelogrammically-shaped slider, and two guiders. The slider is attached to the slide plate. The guiders are attached to the main plate and configured for deformably guiding the slider to move therealong. The slider is positioned between the guiders. During the sliding process of the slide plate with respect to the main plate, two corners of the slider deform the guiders to slide the slide plate along the main plate.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/475,679, entitled “SLIDE MECHANISM FOR SLIDE-TYPE PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE”, by Shui-Jin Dong et al., which has the same assignee as the present application. The above-identified application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure generally relates to slide mechanisms and, particularly, to a portable electronic device with two or more housings using a sliding mechanism that allows one housing to slide over another housing in a longitudinal direction. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Slide-type portable electronic devices have been increasingly used among diverse designs for portable electronic devices. The slide-type portable electronic device has two housings, of which one slides over the other to open/close the portable electronic device. 
     A slide mechanism is generally used in the slide-type portable electronic device for driving the sliding between the two housings. However, the slide mechanism is typically complex in structure and usually difficult to assemble within the portable electronic device. As a result of the structural complexity and assembling difficulty, production costs can be high. 
     Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the new slide mechanism for slide-type portable electronic device can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the new slide mechanism for slide-type portable electronic device. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a portable electronic device at an opened state using a slide mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded and isometric view of the slide mechanism used in the portable electronic device illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is similar to  FIG. 2  but showing another aspect of the slide mechanism. 
         FIG. 4  is an isometric and assembled view of the slide mechanism shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the slide mechanism in  FIG. 4  in an opened position. 
         FIG. 6  is similar to  FIG. 5 , but in a critical position. 
         FIG. 7  is similar to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , but in a closed position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1 and 7  show an exemplary slide mechanism  10  used in a slide-type portable electronic device  20  such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, and etc. The portable electronic device  20  includes a first housing  21  and a second housing  22  engaging with the first housing  21 . The slide mechanism  10  generates an elastic force sufficient to slide the first and second housings  21  and  22  relative to each other. The first housing  21  may have a keypad  221 . The second housing  22  may have a display  221  and several keys  222 . The second housing  22  can slide lengthwise over the first housing  21 , thus exposing or covering the keypad  211 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the slide mechanism  10  includes a main plate  11 , a slide plate  12 , two guiders  13  fixed to the main plate  11 , and a slider  14  fixed to the slide plate  12 . The slide plate  12  and the main plate  11  are fixed to the second housing  22  and the first housing  21 , respectively. The slider  14  can slide along the guiders  13 , thereby driving the sliding of the slide plate  12  relative to the main plate  11 . 
     The main plate  11  includes a main base portion  111  and two generally L-shaped rail portions  112 . Two opposite edge ends of the base portion  11  extend the two rail portions  112  upwardly. The slide plate  12  is shorter than the main plate  11 . The slide plate  12  includes a slide base portion  121  and two slide portions  122 . Two opposite borders of the slide base portion  121  directly fix the two slide portions  122  on a same side of the slide base portion  121 . The two slide portions  122  are generally U-shaped bars defining two slide grooves  1221  corresponding to the two rail portions  112 . The slide base portion  121  has two positioning columns  1211  protruding from a surface thereof. The two slide portions  122  can be attached to the same surface of the slide base portion  121  adjacent to the two positioning columns  1211 . 
     The guiders  13  each have a generally arcuate guide portion  131  and two fixing portions  132 . The guide portion  131  is an elastically deformable sheet. Two opposite ends of the guide portion  131  horizontally extend (e.g., co-molding) along the two fixing portions  132 . The two fixing portions  132  are configured for fixing (e.g., hot-melting) the guider  13  to the main base portion  111 . 
     The slider  14  is an enclosed torsion spring having two connecting arms  142  connected in a parallelogrammic shape. The connecting portions of the two connecting arms  142  form two positioning coils  141  at the two opposite corners of the parallelogram. The positioning coils  141  are configured to coil around the two positioning columns  1211  to secure the slider  14  to the slide plate  12 . The other two opposite corners of the parallelogrammic shape at the connecting arms  142  are resisting portions  143  resist against the guide portion  131  all the way during the sliding process of the sliding mechanism  10 . The slider  14  is provided with a certain rigidity to deform the guide portion  131  during the sliding process. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , when the slide mechanism  10  is assembled, the slide plate  12  covers a part of the main plate  11  and can slide along by the sliding of the slide portions  122  along the rail portions  112 . The rail portions  112  are received in and can linearly slide within the slide grooves  1221 . The guiders  13  and the slider  14  are located between the slide plate  12  and the main plate  11 . The two guide portions  131  are symmetrically arranged on a surface of the main base portion  111  with their convex sides extending towards each other. There is a distance between the guide portions  131  and perpendicular to arrow line A. The distance is initially decreased along a direction designated by the arrow line A, minimized at the middle of the guide portions  131 , and then increased further along the line A. The two connecting arms  142  are symmetrically arranged on a surface of the slide base portion  121 . The slider  14  face the guiders  13  and the resisting portions  143  abut the guide portions  131  without any compression generated between them. The slider  14  is positioned between the guiders  13 . At this time, the guide portions  131  and the slide portions  41  are at their original state. The slide mechanism  10  can be at an opened position and the portable electronic device  20  can be at an opened state accordingly. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the slide mechanism  10  is at a closed position and the portable electronic device  20  is at a closed state. The slide plate  12  slides along the main plate  11  to reach the closed position to cover another part of the main plate  11 . The second housing  22  covers the keypad  211 . The resisting portions  143  engage with the guide portions  131  without any compression generated between them. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 5 , when the slide mechanism  10  is driven from the opened position to the closed position, the slide plate  12  slides along the main plate  11  by exerting an external force along line A. During this stage, the resisting portions  143  deform the guide portions  131 . Referring to  FIG. 6 , the slide plate  12  reaches a critical position relative to the main plate  11 . At this position, the guide portions  131  are compressed by the resisting portions  143  with a maximized deformation. After that, the slide plate  12  can further automatically slide towards the closed position by returning the guide portions  131  from their compressed states to their original states. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even through numerous characteristics and advantages of the exemplary invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.