Abstract:
A hinge has two hinge parts for connecting two device parts of a portable device. The hinge parts can be moved relative to each other so as to allow the portable device to operate in a number of positions. For example, in a mobile phone with a sliding cover to expose the phone keyboard when the mobile phone is operated in an open position, the hinge parts are also configured to allow the sliding motion of the sliding cover. Furthermore, electrically conductive segments are provided on the hinge parts so that electrical contacts between the device parts can be achieved when the portable device is operated in different positions. Additionally, an optical conduit is provided through the hinge so that optical signals can be conveyed between the device parts when the portable device is operated in different positions.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to a hinge for connecting two device parts and, in particular, to a hinge that can be used to transmit optical signals and electrical power from one device part to another part. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   A portable device, such as a mobile phone, may have two device parts interconnected by a hinge. It is advantageous to have an optical conduit within the hinge for transmitting optical signals between the device parts. In general, optical signals must be converted into electrical signals and, therefore, electrical powers are generally needed in both device parts. Thus, it is also advantageous to convey electrical power or signals from one device part to another through the hinge. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a hinge having two hinge parts for connecting two device parts of a portable device. The hinge parts can be moved relative to each other so as to allow the portable device to operate in a number of positions. For example, in a mobile phone with a sliding cover to expose the phone keyboard when the mobile phone is operated in an open position, the hinge parts are also configured to allow the sliding motion of the sliding cover. Furthermore, electrically conductive segments are provided on the hinge parts so that electrical contacts between the device parts can be achieved when the portable device is operated in different positions. Additionally, an optical conduit is provided through the hinge so that optical signals can be conveyed between the device parts when the portable device is operated in different positions. 
   Thus, the first aspect of the present invention is a hinge comprising: 
   a first hinge part having a first coupling section, the first coupling section having at least a section body with a constant cross section; and 
   a second hinge part having a second coupling section, the second coupling section having at least a section body with a constant cross section, dimensioned for mechanically engaging with the first coupling section such that the first and second coupling sections are slidable against one another to provide at least a first mechanical coupling position and a second mechanical coupling position while the first and section coupling sections remain engaged with one another, wherein 
   the first coupling section comprises a first electrically conductive layer, a second electrically conductive layer and a first optical conduit; and 
   the second coupling section comprises a first electrical conductive segment, a second electrical conductive segment and a second optical conduit, and wherein 
   the first electrically conductive layer is in electrical contact with the first electrical conductive segment when the first and second coupling sections are in the first mechanical coupling position and in the second mechanical coupling position; 
   the second electrically conductive layer is in electrical contact with the second electrical conductive segment when the first and second coupling sections are in the first mechanical coupling position and in the second mechanical coupling position; and 
   the first optical conduit is positioned relative to the second optical conduit for conveying optical signals, when the first and second coupling sections are in the first mechanical coupling position and in the second mechanical coupling position. 
   According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cross section of the first coupling section is circular and the cross section of the second coupling section is circular. 
   At least part of the first optical conduit is located substantially in a center section of the cross section of the first coupling section and at least part of the second optical conduit is located substantially in a center section of the cross section of the second coupling section. 
   According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first electrically conductive layer is disposed around the first optical conduit, the first electrically conductive layer having an outer diameter and the first electrically conductive segment is disposed in the section body of the second coupling section, the first electrically conductive segment having an inner diameter dimensioned to match the outer diameter of the first electrically conductive layer. 
   The second electrically conductive layer is disposed around and spaced from the first electrically conductive layer, the second electrically conductive layer having an inner diameter concentric to and greater than the outer diameter of the first electrically conductive layer, defining a concentric air space between the first and second electrically conductive layers, and 
   the second electrically conductive segment is disposed around and spaced from the first electrically conductive segment, the second electrically conductive segment having a further outer diameter concentric to the inner diameter of the first electrically conductive segment, the further outer diameter dimensioned to match the inner diameter of the second electrical conductive layer, so as to allow the second electrically conductive segment and the first electrically conductive segment to reside in at least part of the concentric air space when the first and second coupling sections are in the first and second coupling positions. 
   Furthermore, an insulation layer is disposed between the first and second electrically conductive segments in the second coupling section, and another insulation layer is disposed outside the second electrically conductive layer of the first coupling section. 
   In one embodiment of the present invention, the first coupling section has a longitudinal axis, and the first hinge part further comprises a further hinge section fixedly connected to the first coupling section, the further hinge section having a rotational axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. Likewise, the second coupling section has a longitudinal axis, and the second hinge part further comprises a further hinge section fixedly connected to the second coupling section, the further hinge section having a rotational axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. 
   The second aspect of the present invention is a portable device, such as a mobile phone, having the hinge with electrical contacts and optical conduits, according to the present invention. 
   The third aspect of the present invention is a method for providing electrical contacts and optical signals between a first device part and a second device part through a hinge having a first hinge part and a second hinge part, wherein the first device part is mechanically coupled to the first hinge part and the second device part is mechanically coupled to the second hinge part for providing mechanical linkage and relative movement between the first and second device parts. The method comprises: 
   providing a first coupling section to the first hinge part, the first coupling section having at least a section body with a constant cross section; 
   providing a second coupling section to the second hinge part, the second coupling section having at least a section body with a constant cross section, dimensioned for mechanically engaging with the first coupling section such that the first and second coupling sections are slidable against one another to provide at least a first mechanical coupling position and a second mechanical coupling position while the first and second coupling sections remain engaged with one another, 
   disposing a first electrically conductive layer, a second electrically conductive layer and a first optical conduit in the first coupling section; and 
   disposing a first electrical conductive segment, a second electrical conductive segment and a second optical conduit in the second coupling section, such that 
   the first electrically conductive layer is in electrical contact with the first electrical conductive segment when the first and second coupling sections are in the first mechanical coupling position and in the second mechanical coupling position; 
   the second electrically conductive layer is in electrical contact with the second electrical conductive segment when the first and second coupling sections are in the first mechanical coupling position and in the second mechanical coupling position; and 
   the first optical conduit is positioned relative to the second optical conduit for conveying optical signals, when the first and second coupling sections are in the first mechanical coupling position and in the second mechanical coupling position. 
   According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: 
   positioning at least part of the first optical conduit substantially in a center section of the cross section of the first coupling section; 
   positioning at least part of the second optical conduit substantially in a center section of the cross section of the second coupling section; 
   positioning the first electrically conductive layer around the first optical conduit, the first electrically conductive layer having an outer diameter; positioning the first electrically conductive segment in the section body of the second coupling section, the first electrically conductive segment having an inner diameter dimensioned to match the outer diameter of the first electrically conductive layer; 
   positioning the second electrically conductive layer around and spaced from the first electrically conductive layer, the second electrically conductive layer having an inner diameter concentric to and greater than the outer diameter of the first electrically conductive layer, defining a concentric air space between the first and second electrically conductive layers, and 
   positioning the second electrically conductive segment around and spaced from the first electrically conductive segment, the second electrically conductive segment having a further outer diameter concentric to the inner diameter of the first electrically conductive segment, the further outer diameter dimensioned to match the inner diameter of the second electrical conductive layer, so as to allow the second electrically conductive segment and the first electrically conductive segment to reside in at least part of the concentric air space when the first and second coupling sections are in the first and second coupling positions. 
   According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: 
   disposing an insulation layer between the first and second electrically conductive segments in the second coupling section; and 
   disposing an insulation layer outside the second electrically conductive layer in the first coupling section. 
   The present invention will become apparent upon reading the description taken in conjunction with  FIGS. 1 to 11   b.    

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of an electronic device having two device parts connected by an optical hinge, according to the present invention. 
       FIGS. 2   a  to  2   c  show different views of a first hinge part, according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIGS. 3   a  to  3   c  show different views of a second hinge part, according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIGS. 4   a  to  4   f  show different operational positions of the optical hinge, according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a side-view showing two hinge parts separately mounted on two device parts to allow a sliding motion between the device parts. 
       FIG. 6   a  shows a different view of the device parts of  FIG. 5  when the device is operated in an open position. 
       FIG. 6   b  shows the device of  6   a  in a closed position. 
       FIG. 7  is a side-view showing a different implementation of the hinge parts on two device parts. 
       FIG. 8   a  shows a different view of the device parts of  FIG. 7  when the device is operated in an open position. 
       FIG. 8   b  shows the device of  8   a  in a closed position. 
       FIGS. 9   a  to  9   d  show a clamshell phone having the optical hinge, according to the present invention, wherein one part of the phone can also be rotated along two orthogonal axes. 
       FIGS. 10   a  and  10   b  show a cross sectional view of the connecting sections of a hinge wherein only one electrically conductive connection is provided. 
       FIGS. 11   a  and  11   b  show a cross sectional view of the connecting sections of a hinge wherein three electrically conductive connections are provided. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of an electronic device having two device parts connected by an optical hinge, according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the electronic device  100  has a first device part  110  coupled to a second device part  150  by an optical hinge  1 . The optical hinge  1  has an optical conduit for conveying optical signals from the first device part to the second device part. The same conduit can also be used to convey optical signals from the second device part to the first device part. The optical hinge  1  also has electrical conducting parts to provide electrical power from the first device part to the second device part and vice versa. 
   The optical hinge  1 , according to the present invention, has a first hinge part  10  and a second hinge part  50 . The first and second hinge parts are dimensioned so that they can slide and rotate against one another. As shown in  FIG. 2   a , the first hinge part  10  has a connecting section  30  and an anchoring section  32 . The anchoring section  32  can be fixedly or movably mounted on the first device part, for example. The connecting section  30  is used for connecting to a connecting section  70  of the second hinge part  50 , as shown in  FIG. 3   a . The second hinge part  50  also has an anchoring section  72 . The anchoring section  72  can be fixedly or movably mounted on the second device part, for example. In order to achieve the sliding and rotating motion between the connecting sections  30  and  70 , each of the connecting sections  30  and  70  is substantially cylindrical in shape and has a circular cross section, as shown in  FIG. 2   b  and  FIG. 3   b . The first hinge part  10  has an optical fiber  20  and the second hinge part  50  has an optical fiber  60  located substantially at the center of radius of the corresponding connecting sections in order to convey optical signals when the first and second hinge parts  10  and  50  are engaged with each other. As shown in  FIG. 2   b , the connecting section  30  has a first cylindrical layer of electrically conductive material  18  surrounding the optical fiber  20 . The connecting section  30  also has a second cylindrical layer of electrically conductive material  14  concentrically disposed around the first conductive layer  18 , leaving a concentric space  24  between the first and second conductive layers  14  and  18 . It is advantageous to have a jacket  12  outside the second conductive layer  14  to keep out dust, for example. The anchoring section  32 , as shown in  FIG. 2   c , is basically the same as the connecting sections  30  except that an insulation layer  16  is used to fill the space between the first and second conductive layers  14  and  18 . It should be noted that the cross section of the anchoring section  32  can be circular or in another shape so that the first conductive layer  18  and the second conductive layer  14  can be connected to a printed wire board or a chassis, for example. The optical fiber  20  is operatively connected to an opto-electrical component. 
   As shown in  FIG. 3   b , the connecting section  70  has a first cylindrical layer of electrically conductive material  56  and a second cylindrical layer of electrically conductive layer  52 . The first conductive layer  56  is basically a cylindrical tube with an inner diameter defining an empty space  64 . The inner diameter is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the first conductive layer  18  of the connecting section  30 . The second conductive layer  52  is basically a cylindrical tube with an outer diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the second conductive layer  14  of the connecting section  30 . An insulation layer  54  is provided between the first and second conductive layers  52  and  56 . As such, when the first and second hinge parts are engaged with each other, the concentric layers  52 ,  54  and  56  of connecting section  70  of the second hinge part  50  are inserted into the space  24  of the connecting section  30  of the first hinge part  10 , and the optical fiber  20  and the surrounding conductive layer  18  of the connecting section  30  are inserted into the space  64  of the connecting section  70 . In the connecting section  70  of the second hinge part  50 , the optical fiber  60  is disposed at the end of the empty space  64 . When the first and second hinge parts  10  and  50  are engaged with each other, the first conductive layer  56  is in electrical contact with the first conductive layer  18  and the second conductive layer  52  is in electrical contact with the second conductive layer  14  to provide electrical connections between the two hinge parts. Furthermore, optical signals can be conveyed between the optical fiber  60  and the optical fiber  20  whether these optical fibers are in contact with each other. The anchoring section  72 , as shown in  FIG. 3   c , is basically the same as the connecting section  70  except that the inner part of the first conductive layer  56  is filled with the optical fiber  60  and an insulation layer  58 . It should be noted that the cross section of the anchoring section  72  can be circular or in another shape so that the first conductive layer  56  and the second conductive layer  52  can be connected to a printed wire board or a chassis, for example. The optical fiber  60  is operatively connected to an opto-electrical component. 
     FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  are different views of the optical hinge  1  when the connecting section  70  of the second hinge part  50  is partially inserted into the connecting section  30  of the first hinge part  10 .  FIGS. 4   c  and  4   d  are different views of the optical hinge  1  when the connecting section  70  of the second hinge part  50  is fully inserted into the connecting section  30  of the first hinge part  10 . It should be noted that so long as the connecting section  70  is coupled to the connecting section  30 , the electrical contacts between the first hinge part  10  and the second hinge part  50  can be maintained and the optical communications between the first and second hinge parts can also be maintained. The same is true when the first and second hinge parts are rotated against each other, as shown in  FIGS. 4   e  and  4   f.    
   As the optical and electrical conduits can be maintained while the hinge parts undergo sliding motions and rotational motions, the optical hinge  1  can be implemented in many different ways between two device parts. For example, in an electronic device  100  having a first device part  110  and a second device part  150 , the entire first hinge part  10  is mounted in an indent section of the first device part  110 , and the entire second hinge part  50  is mounted in an indent section of the second part  150 .  FIG. 6   a  shows a different view of the electronic device  100  in an open position, and  FIG. 6   b  shows the electronic device  100  in a closed position. When the electronic device  100  is in the open position, the connecting section  70  is only partially inserted in the connecting section  30 . 
   The optical hinge can be implemented on an electronic device in a different way, as shown in  FIG. 7 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the electronic device  200  has a first device part  210  and a second device part  250 . The connecting section  30  of the first hinge part  10  is disposed in an indent section of the first device part  210 , but the anchoring section  32  is mounted through the device part  210 . Likewise, the connecting section  70  of the second hinge part  50  is disposed in an indent section of the second device part  250 , but the anchoring section  72  is mounted through the second device part  250 . In this configuration, the first hinge part  10  is allowed to rotate along the y axis against the first device part  210  and the second hinge part  50  is allowed to rotate along the y axis against the second device part  250 . 
     FIG. 8   a  shows a different view of the electronic device  200  in an open position, and  FIG. 8   b  shows the electronic device  200  in a closed position. When the electronic device  200  is in the open position, the connecting section  70  is only partially inserted in the connecting section  30 . When the electronic device  200  is in the closed position, the connecting section  70  is further inserted into the connecting section  30 . As the same time, both the first hinge part  10  and the second hinge part  50  are rotated in a counter-clockwise direction. 
   In an electronic device such as a clamshell phone, the optical hinge can be implemented in yet another different way. As shown in  FIGS. 9   a  to  9   d , the electronic device  300  has a first device part  310  and a second device part  350 . The anchoring section  32  of the first hinge part is mounted on the first device part  310  depth-wise and the anchoring section  72  of the second hinge part is mounted on the second device part  350  lengthwise. The engaged connecting parts  30  and  70  (see  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b ) serve as pivot to allow the second device part  350  to rotate along the z direction (not shown) to open the electronic device  300 , from a closed position as shown in  FIG. 9   a  to various open positions as shown in  FIGS. 9   b  and  9   c . Additionally, the second device part  350  can use the anchoring section  72  as pivot to rotate along the y axis, as shown in  FIG. 9   d.    
   In sum, the optical hinge of the present invention has a first hinge part and a second hinge part. Each of the first and second hinge parts has a connecting section and an anchoring section. The connecting sections can be movably coupled to each other so as to allow one connecting section to slide against the other while maintaining the electrical and optical links. Advantageously, both connecting sections are concentrically constructed so as to allow one connecting section to rotate against the other, in addition to the sliding motion. Each of the connecting sections has a first and a second cylindrical layer of an electrically conductive material. The conductive layers in the first hinge part are dimensioned to provide electrical contacts to the corresponding conductive layers in the second hinge part whether the connecting sections are fully engaged or partially engaged with each other. Each of the first and second hinge parts has a centrally located optical fiber so as to allow optical signals to be conveyed between the first and second hinge parts when the connecting sections are fully or partially engaged. The optical hinge, according to the present invention, can be used as a mechanical coupling means to allow one device part to move relative to another device part. The relative movement can be a sliding motion or a rotational motion. 
   It should be noted that when the device parts are not required to rotate against one another as illustrated in  FIGS. 8   a  to  8   b , the cross section of connecting sections  30  and  70  is not necessarily circular as depicted in  FIGS. 2   b  and  3   b . The cross section can be elliptical, rectangular or any shape, so long as the cross section is constant over each of the connecting sections. Furthermore, each of the electrically conductive layers  14 ,  18 ,  52  and  56  does not necessarily form a complete loop like a tube. Each layer can be one or more elongated segments wide enough to provide electrical contact with its counterpart even when the connecting sections are caused to rotate against one another. 
   It is possible that there is only one electrically conductive layer in each of the connecting sections  30  and  70 . As shown in  FIG. 10   a , the connecting section  30  has only one electrically conductive layer  18 . Similarly, the connecting section  70  also has only one electrically conductive layer  56 . Moreover, it is also possible that three or more electrically conductive layers are provided in each of the connecting sections  30  and  70 . As shown in  FIG. 11   a , the connecting section  30  has an additional electrically conductive layer  25  surrounding the insulation jacket  12 . As shown in  FIG. 11   b , the connecting section  70  has a corresponding electrically conductive layer  55  concentrically provided around the inner layers. The inner diameter of third electrically conductive layer  55  is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the electrically conductive layer  25 . The concentric space  53  between the electrically conductive layers  52  and  55  in the connecting section  70  allows the layers  25 ,  12  and  14  of the connecting section  30  to be inserted into the space  53 , while the optical fiber  20  and the electrically conductive layer  18  are inserted into the space  64  in the connecting section  70 . 
   Thus, although the present invention has been described with respect to one or more embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and deviations in the form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the scope of this invention.