Abstract:
An information processing apparatus includes an opening/closing mechanism in which a first casing and a second casing are hinge-connected via a hinge unit and the first casing and the second casing perform opening and closing operations via the hinge unit and a rotation mechanism in which the second casing is rotated about a twisting central axis which protrudes and contacts the hinge unit and rotatably supports the second casing, in which in a closed state where one face of the first: casing and one face of the second casing are overlapped one another, a clearance between the casings is set to have a first distance, and in another closed state where the other face of the first casing and the other face of the second casing are overlapped one another, the clearance between the casings is set to have a second distance different from the first distance.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus. In particular, the invention relates to an information processing apparatus such as a cellular phone capable of being biaxial pivotal. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    In recent years, cellular phones in various styles have been proposed. For example, a slide style cellular phone, a straight style cellular phone, a flip style cellular phone, a foldable cellular phone, and the like have been proposed. In particular, the foldable cellular phone has a lower casing (first casing) as a main body including operation keys and an upper casing (second casing different from the first casing) to which a main display is mounted. The lower casing and the upper casing are connected via an opening/closing mechanism including a hinge unit so as to be opened and closed. Among the foldable cellular phones is a foldable cellular phone capable of being biaxial pivotal such that the upper casing is rotated at about 180 degrees about a twisting central axis (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-5863). 
         [0005]    In the case of the cellular phone capable of being biaxial pivotal, in order to downsize the casings of the cellular phone in either state where the upper casing and the lower casing are closed so that the upper casing having the main display is on top of the lower casing or where the upper casing and the lower casings are closed after the upper casing is rotated at about 180 degrees about the twisting central axis, a central axis of a face of the upper casing is coincident with the twisting central axis used for rotating the upper casing. 
         [0006]    At this time, in either state of the cellular phone described above, in order to keep a clearance between the upper casing and the lower casing constant, it is necessary to manage fluctuations in thickness of the casings in advance. To be more specific, fluctuations in thickness of the casings are generated respectively on a main display side and on a back face side of the upper casing in a manufacturing procedure of parts and at the time of assembly, so that the casings cannot be appropriately closed in some cases as the casing is swollen too much in the thickness direction in either state. For example, such a case is considerable that the upper casing becomes thicker to some extent in the manufacturing procedure and the upper casing contacts the lower casing so that the casings cannot be appropriately closed. In view of the above, it is necessary to manage fluctuations in thickness of the casings in advance, but in either state of the cellular phone described above, in order to keep a clearance between the upper casing and the lower casing constant, it is necessary to spare a slightly large clearance between the upper casing and the lower casing. 
         [0007]    However, if the wasteful clearance exists between the upper casing and the lower casing, the casing size of the cellular phone becomes large, and there is a limitation in downsizing the casing of the cellular phone. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present invention to provide has been made in view of the above-mentioned situation, and it is an object of the invention to provide an information processing apparatus such as a cellular phone in which a casing of a cellular phone can be appropriately downsized in accordance with a state of a cellular phone capable of being biaxial pivotal. 
         [0009]    In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, including: an opening/closing mechanism in which a first casing and a second casing are hinge-connected via a hinge unit and the first casing and the second casing are opened and closed via the hinge unit; and a rotation mechanism in which the second casing is rotated about a twisting central axis which protrudes and contacts the hinge unit to rotatably support the second casing, in which in a closed state where one face of the first casing and one face of the second casing are overlapped one another, a clearance between the first casing and the second casing is set to have a first distance, and in another closed state where the one face of the first casing and the other lace of the second casing are overlapped one another, the clearance between the first casing and the second casing is set to have a second distance which is different from the first, distance. 
         [0010]    According to the aspect of the present invention, in accordance with the state of the cellular phone having the biaxial rotation system, the casing size of the cellular phone can be appropriately set compact. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIGS. 1A and 1B  illustrate external configurations of a cellular phone opened at about 180 degrees as viewed from the front and the side which can be applied to an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate external configurations of the cellular phone closed as viewed from the front and the side which can be applied to the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate other external configurations of the cellular phone which can be applied to the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrate other external configurations of the cellular phone which can be applied to the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5A  is a schematic cross sectional view of a cellular phone in a related art as taken along an M-M′ line of  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5B  is a schematic cross sectional view of the cellular phone in the related art as taken along an N-N′ line of  FIG. 4A ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5C  is a schematic cross sectional view of the cellular phone according to the embodiment of the present invention as taken along the M-M′ line of  FIG. 2A ; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 5D  is a schematic cross sectional view of the cellular phone according to the embodiment of the present invention as taken along the N-N′ line of  FIG. 4A . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 
         [0020]      FIGS. 1A and 1B  illustrate external configurations of a cellular phone  1  which can be applied to an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that  FIG. 1A  illustrates an external configuration of the cellular phone  1  opened at about 180 degrees as viewed from the front, and  FIG. 1B  illustrates an external configuration of the cellular phone  1  opened as viewed from the side. Also, the state of the cellular phone  1  opened at about 180 degrees (so-called open style) as referred to as “first state”. 
         [0021]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , the cellular phone  1  includes a first casing  12  and a second casing  13  which are hinge-connected with a hinge unit  11  at the center, and is formed so as to be foldable in an arrow X direction via the hinge unit  11 . At a predetermined location inside the cellular phone  1 , an antenna for transmission and reception is provided. The cellular phone  1  is adapted to transmit and receive radio waves with a base station (not shown) via the built-in antenna. 
         [0022]    The first casing  12  is provided with operation keys  14  on its surface, such as alphanumeral keys from “0” to “9”, an outgoing call key, a redial key, a power key, a clear key, and an electronic mail key. With use of the operation keys  14 , it is possible to input various instructions. 
         [0023]    The first casing  12  is provided with an arrow key and a confirmation key as the operation keys  14  in an upper part. As a user operates the arrow key in up, down, left, and right directions, an allocated cursor can be moved in the up, down, left, and right directions. To be more specific, various operations are executed such as a scroll operation of a telephone directory list and an electronic mail displayed on a main display  17  of the second casing  13 , a page turning over operation of a simplified home page, and an image feed operation. 
         [0024]    In addition, by pressing the confirmation key, various functions can be confirmed. For example, in the first casing  12 , in accordance with the operation of the arrow key by the user, a desired telephone number is selected from a plurality of telephone numbers in the telephone directory list displayed on the main display  17  (liquid crystal display). When the confirmation key is pressed in an inside direction of the first casing  12 , the selected telephone number is confirmed and an outgoing call processing is performed with respect to the telephone number. 
         [0025]    Furthermore, the first casing  12  is provided with the electronic mail key on the left of the arrow key and the confirmation key. When the electronic mail key is pressed in the inside direction of the first casing  12 , it is possible to call mail transmission and reception functions. A browser key is provided on the right of the arrow key and the confirmation key. When the browser key is pressed in the inside direction of the first casing  12 , it is possible to view data of a Web page. 
         [0026]    In addition, the first casing  12  is provided with a microphone  15  at a lower part of the operation keys  14 . With the microphone  15 , speech from the user at the time of conversation is collected. Also, the first casing  12  is provided with a side key  16  with which operations of the cellular phone  1  are performed. 
         [0027]    It should be noted that a battery pack which is not shown is inserted to be attached on a back surface side of the first casing  12 . When the call termination and power key is turned ON, electric power is supplied to the respective circuit units from the battery pack to activate the units in an operable state. 
         [0028]    On the other hand, the second casing  13  is provided with the main display  17  on its front. In addition to the reception state of the radion waves, the battery remaining amount, other party names and telephone numbers registered as the call register, the transmission history, and the like, the main display  17  can display the contents of the electronic mail, the simplified home page, an image captured by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera (a CCD camera  20  in  FIGS. 2A and 2B  which will be described later), a content received from an external content server (not shown), and a content stored in a memory card. In addition, a speaker  18  is provided at a predetermined upper position of the main display  17 . With this configuration, the user can perform the speech conversation. 
         [0029]    Also, magnetic sensors  19   a ,  19   b ,  19   c , and  19   d  for detecting the state of the cellular phone  1  are provided at predetermined positions inside the first casing  12  and the second casing  13 . Furthermore, at a predetermined position of the first casing  12  (for example, at a position on a base side of the microphone  15 , etc.), a clearance keeper (contact member) P for keeping the clearance between the casings when the first easing  12  and the second casing  13  are closed is provided. In addition, at a predetermined position of the second casing  13  (for example, at a position on an end side of the speaker  18 ), a retreating recessed unit Q is provided which faces and contacts the clearance keeper P when the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  are closed. It should be noted that a technology related to the clearance keeper P and the retreating recessed unit Q is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-134347 filed by the same applicant as the present invention. 
         [0030]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate other external configurations of the cellular phone  1  which can be applied to the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. A state of the cellular phone  1  in  FIGS. 2A and 2B  refers to a state in which the cellular phone  1  is turned from the state in  FIGS. 1A and 1B  in an arrow X direction. It should be noted that  FIG. 2A  illustrates an external configuration of the cellular phone  1  closed as viewed from the front the front, and  FIG. 2B  illustrates an external configuration of the cellular phone  1  closed as viewed from the side. Also, the state of the cellular phone  1  illustrated in  FIGS. 2A and 2B  is referred to as “second state”. 
         [0031]    At an upper part of the second casing  13 , the CCD camera  20  is provided. With the CCD camera  20 , it is possible to capture an image of a desired photography target. At a lower part of the CCD camera  20 , a sub display  21  is provided, where an antenna pictogram indicating the current antenna sensitivity, a battery pictogram indicating the current battery remaining amount of the cellular phone  1 , the current time, and the like are displayed. 
         [0032]    At a lower part of the sub display  21 , an electrostatic touch pad  22  is furthermore provided. The electrostatic touch pad  22  is apparently composed of one sheet of a touch pad, but sensors which are not shown are provided at a plurality of positions. When the user touches a position in the vicinity of the sensor, the sensor detects the touching, and a rewinding function, a fast forward function, an audio volume down operation, an audio volume up operation, a reproduction operation, a pause operation, and the like are executed. 
         [0033]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate other external configurations of the cellular phone  1  which can be applied to the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The state of the cellular phone  1  illustrated in  FIGS. 3A and 3B  is a state in which the cellular phone  1  is circumnutated at 90 degrees in an arrow Y direction from the state of the cellular phone  1  illustrated in  FIGS. 1A and 1B . The state of the cellular phone  1  illustrated in  FIGS. 3A and 3B  is referred to as “third state”. It should be noted that  FIG. 3A  illustrates an external configuration of the cellular phone  1  set in the third state as viewed from the front, and  FIG. 3B  illustrates an external configuration of the cellular phone  1  set in the third state as viewed from the side. 
         [0034]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrate other external configurations of the cellular phone  1  which can be applied to the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The state of the cellular phone  1  in  FIGS. 4A and 4B  is a state in which the cellular phone  1  is circumnutated at about 180 degrees in the arrow Y direction from the state of the cellular phone  1  in  FIGS. 3A and 3B  and then rotated in an arrow X direction so that the first, casing  12  and the second casing  13  are overlapped one another while the main display  17  faces outward. The state of the cellular phone  1  illustrated in  FIGS. 4A and 4B  (so-called turn over style) is referred to as “fourth state”. It should be noted that  FIG. 4A  illustrates an external configuration of the cellular phone  1  set in the fourth state as viewed from the front, and  FIG. 4B  illustrates an external configuration of the cellular phone  1  set in the fourth state as viewed from the side. It should be noted that as illustrated in  FIGS. 1A to 4B , the cellular phone  1  capable of rotating in two axes perpendicular to each other is referred to as “cellular phone capable of being biaxial pivotal”. 
         [0035]    Incidentally, in the case of the cellular phone  1  capable of being biaxial pivotal, for example, as illustrated in  FIGS. 5A and 5B , in order to downsize the casing of the cellular phone  1  in either state where the first casing and the second casing are closed (the second state illustrated in  FIGS. 2A  and  2 B) so that the second casing  13  having the main display  17  is on top of the first casing  12  or where the second casing  13  is rotated at about 180 degrees about the twisting central axis (in the arrow Y direction in  FIGS. 3A and 33 ) and thereafter the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  are closed (the fourth state illustrated in  FIGS. 4A and 4B  (so-called turn over style), the central axis on the face of the second casing  13  is coincided with the twisting central axis used for rotating the second casing  13 . 
         [0036]    It should be noted that  FIG. 5A  is a schematic cross sectional view of the cellular phone  1  in a related art as taken along the M-M′ line of  FIG. 2A ,  FIG. 5B  is a schematic cross sectional view of the cellular phone  1  in the related art as taken along the N-N′ line of  FIG. 4A . Also, in the case of  FIGS. 5A and 5B , in the second casing  13 , an area near a hinge connection with the hinge unit  11  is configured as a wall thick part  23 . This is for emphasizing a state in which the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  are hinge-connected via the hinge unit  11 . 
         [0037]    At this time, in either state (the second state or the fourth state) of the cellular phone  1  described above, in order to keep a clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  constant, it is necessary to manage fluctuations in thickness of the casings in advance. To be more specific, fluctuations in thickness of the casing are generated respectively on a main display side and on a back face side of the second casing in a manufacturing procedure of parts and at the time of assembly, so that the casings cannot be appropriately closed in some cases as the casing is swollen too much in the thickness direction in either state, in either state (the second state or the fourth state). For example, such a case is considerable that the second casing  13  becomes thicker to some extent in the manufacturing procedure and the second casing  13  contacts the first casing  12  so that the casings cannot be appropriately closed. In view of the above, it is necessary to manage fluctuations in thickness of the casings in advance, in either state (the second state or the fourth state), in order to keep the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  constant, it is necessary to spare a slightly large clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13 . 
         [0038]    However, if the wasteful clearance exists between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13 , the casing size of the cellular phone  1  becomes large, and there is a limitation in downsizing the casing of the cellular phone  1 . 
         [0039]    In view of the above, in the state where the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  are closed so that the second casing  13  having the main display  17  is on top of the first casing  12  (the second state), the central axis on the face of the second casing  13  is shifted by a predetermined amount (for example, 0.15 mm to 0.20 mm, etc.) with respect to the twisting central axis used for rotating the second casing  13  in a direction the second casing  13  approaches the first casing  12 . With this configuration, in the closed state indicated by the second state, the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  is set narrower than the previous case by the predetermined amount. On the other hand, in the state where the second casing  13  is rotated about the twisting central axis (in the arrow Y direction in  FIGS. 3A and 3B ) at about 180 degrees and then the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  are closed (the fourth state), the positional relation between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  is relatively shifted, and the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  is set wider than the previous case by the predetermined amount. As a result, in the fourth state where the clearance between the casings is set wider by the predetermined amount, it is virtually possible to prevent such a situation that the casings cannot be appropriately closed as the casing is swollen in the thickness direction, for example. As to the fluctuations in thickness generated in the manufacturing procedure of parts and at the time of assembly, it suffices if a consideration is given on the back face side with respect to the main display side of the second casing, so that it is possible to realize a configuration which hardly receive an influence from the fluctuations in the casings of the cellular phone  1 . 
         [0040]    Of course, even if the central axis on the face of the second casing  13  is shifted in the fourth state with respect to the twisting central axis used for rotating the second casing  13  by a predetermined amount in the direction where the second casing  13  approaches the first casing  12 , it is similarly possible to obtain a configuration which is hard to receive an influence from the fluctuations in the casings of the cellular phone  1 . As described above, in the second state, by shifting the central axis on the face of the second casing  13  by a predetermined amount in the direction where the second casing  13  approaches the first casing  12 , the following effects can also be obtained. That is, in a case where the second casing  13  is provided with the speaker  18 , at the time of the second state, the speaker  18  faces outward, and at the time of the fourth state, the speaker  18  faces inward. In the fourth state, the positional relation between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  are relatively shifted, the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  is set to be wider than the previous case by the predetermined amount. Thus, as compared with the related art, such an environment is obtained that the audio output from the speaker  18  is facilitated, and it is possible to realize an acoustically advanced configuration for the speaker  18 . Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention using this configuration will be described in detail. 
         [0041]      FIG. 5C  is a schematic cross sectional view of the cellular phone  1  using the configuration for the cellular phone  1  according to the embodiment of the present invention as taken along the M-M′ line of  FIG. 2A , and  FIG. 5D  is a schematic cross sectional view of the cellular phone  1  using the configuration for the cellular phone  1  according to the embodiment of the present invention as taken along the N-N′ line of  FIG. 4A . 
         [0042]    As illustrated in  FIG. 5C , in the case of the second state, the central axis on the face of the second casing  13  is shifted with respect to the twisting central axis used for rotating the second casing  13  in a direction where the second casing  13  approaches the first casing  12  by a predetermined amount (for example, 0.15 mm to 0.20 mm, etc.). With this configuration, as compared with the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  in the related art (for example, 0.6 mm, etc.), it is possible to set the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  to be narrower than the previous case by the predetermined amount shifted in the direction where the second casing  13  approaches the first casing  12  (for example, 0.15 mm to 0.20 mm, etc.). That is, when the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  is 0.6 mm in the related art, by adopting the configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention, the clearance can be set as 0.40 mm to 0.45 mm. It should be noted that in this case, as the second casing  13  is provided with the retreating recessed unit Q at a position corresponding to the clearance keeper P provided to the first casing  12 , it is possible to shift the central axis on the face of the second casing  13  with respect to the twisting central axis used for rotating the second casing  13  in the direction where the second casing  13  approaches the first casing  12  by the predetermined amount. At this time, in the second state, by way of fitting between the clearance keeper P provided to the first casing  12  and the retreating recessed, unit Q provided to the second casing  13 , an impact caused at the time of contact between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  is relaxed, and the extent of the second casing  13  in the thickness direction is suppressed, so that at the time of the closed state indicated by the second state, the casing of the cellular phone  1  can be more downsized. Of course, the casing provided with the clearance keeper P and the casing provided with the retreating recessed unit Q are substituted by each other, a recessed and raised relation may be set inverse while the second casing  13  is provided with the clearance keeper P and the first casing  12  is provided with the retreating recessed unit Q. 
         [0043]    On the other hand, in the case of the fourth state, through the twist of the second casing  13 , the positional relation between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  is relatively shifted. As compared with the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  in the related art (for example, 0.6 mm, etc.), it is possible to set the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  wider than the previous case by a predetermined amount shifted in the direction where the second casing  13  approaches the first casing  12  (for example, 0.15 mm to 0, 20 mm, etc.). That is, when the clearance between the first casing  12  and the second casing  13  is 0.6 mm in the related art, by adopting the configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention, the clearance can be set as 0.75 mm to 0.80 mm. At this time, in the second state, the clearance keeper P provided to the first casing  12  contacts a predetermined position on the back face side with respect to the main display side of the second casing  13 . 
         [0044]    It should be noted that the predetermined amount by which the central axis on the face of the second casing  13  is shifted may be appropriately changed. 
         [0045]    With this configuration, in the fourth state where the clearance between the casings is wider by the predetermined amount, it is virtually possible to prevent such a situation that the casings cannot be appropriately closed as the casing is swollen in the thickness direction, for example. As to the fluctuations in thickness generated in the manufacturing procedure of parts and at the time of assembly, it suffices if a consideration is given on the back face side with respect to the main display side of the second casing, it is possible to realize a configuration which hardly receive an influence from the fluctuations in the casings of the cellular phone  1 . Then, in the second state, the casing size of the cellular phone  1  can be more downsized, and in a state where the user normally uses the cellular phone  1 , the casing size of the cellular phone  1  can be set more compact. As a result, the ease of use of the cellular phone  1  is improved for the user. 
         [0046]    On the other hand, in the fourth state, as compared with the related art, such an environment is obtained that the audio output from the speaker  18  is facilitated, and it is possible to realize an acoustically advanced configuration for the speaker  18 . As a result, when the user listen to desired music from the cellular phone  1  by using, for example, a music player function, it is possible for the user to listen to the music with, an improved audio quality. 
         [0047]    As described above, in accordance with the state of the cellular phone of the biaxial rotation system, it is possible to appropriately set the casing size of the cellular phone compact, and the usability of the cellular phone  1  can be improved. 
         [0048]    It should be noted that in addition to the cellular phone  1 , the present invention can be applied to other information processing apparatuses such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a personal computer, a portable game player, a portable music player, and a portable video player.