Patent Publication Number: US-2009234975-A1

Title: Sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of a portable electronic device

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 97204576, filed Mar. 17, 2008, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The presented invention relates to a sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure. More particularly, the presented invention relates to sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of a portable electronic device. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In present portable electronic device technologies, there is a trend for systems to become smaller, lighter, thinner, smaller in volume and to equip with more and more function and diversified. Some portable electronic devices are designed to have two parts with an upper cover and a base for arranging the display screen and the input unit separately. The display screen can be arranged on the upper cover and the input unit, such as a keyboard or a touchpad, can be arranged in the base. 
     However, in prior art, a hinge structure is needed to connect the upper cover and the base pivotally with a large internal space of the device and therefore doesn&#39;t comply with the trends for size minimization. 
     SUMMARY 
     For this reason, the invention provides a sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of a portable electronic device. The hinge structure for both sliding and rotating is designed to pivotally connect the upper cover and the base of the portable electronic device. Therefore, the upper cover of the portable electronic device can be slid and then rotated the base. 
     The sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of this invention comprises: a pivot for linking the upper cover and the base pivotingly; a sliding clip with a sleeve at an end on one side of the sliding clip and a rail clip on the other side of the sliding clip, wherein the sleeve is rotatably connected with the pivot on the base so that the sliding clip can be rotated relative to the base; and at least a straight rail being clasped by the rail clip of the sliding clip, for moving forwards and backwards within a limited range. 
     By using the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of this invention, the upper cover of the portable electronic device can be rotated and raised relative to the base in front of the input device such as a keyboard, a touch pad etc. This increases the variety of functional applications of the portable electronic device. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of this invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of this invention; and 
         FIGS. 3A ,  3 B and  3 C illustrate continuous movements of the preferred embodiment of the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of this invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of this invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of this invention is implemented on portable electronic devices such as a mobile phone, a Personnel Digital Assistant (PDA), an Ultra-Mobile Personnel Computer (UMPC), a Mobile Internet Device (MID) etc. By using the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure, the upper cover  10  of the portable electronic device can be rotated and raised relative to the base  20 , thus increasing the varieties and the functional applications of a portable electronic device. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of this invention. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure comprises an upper cover  10 , a base  20 , a straight rail  11 , a sliding clip  21  and a pivot  30 . The upper cover  10 , which connects to the base  20 , can be equipped with a display screen of the portable electronic device. The upper cover  10  has a bottom  102  at one side thereof and indentations  106  at two sides on the back of the upper cover  10 . The amount of indentations can be arranged according to the number of straight rails  11 , wherein the indentation  106  has a retaining block  104  and a fixing structure  110   b . The indentation  106  is disposed at the position corresponding to the straight rail  11  to contain the straight rail  11 . And the straight rail  11  is fastened with the indentation  106  by the fixing structure  110   a  and the fixing structure  110   b , wherein the fixing structures  110   a  and  110   b  can be implemented as a combination of a screw structure and a bolt structure. The base  20 , a supporting base of the portable electronic device can be equipped with an input device such as a keyboard, a touch pad, and etc. The upper surface  210  further includes a trench  220  to accommodate the bottom  102  of the upper cover  10  when the upper cover  10  is turned over relative to the base  20 . That is, when the upper cover  10  is turned over relative to the base  20 , the bottom  102  of the upper cover  10  can swivel into the trench  220 . Also, the upper cover  10  can be turned only when the bottom  102  of the upper cover  10  is aligned with the trench  220 . The pivot  30  is secured on the base  20  to attach the upper cover  10  and the base  20  together, and is operable to swing the upper cover  10  relative the base  20 . The sliding clip  21  has a sleeve  22  at one end thereof, and the sleeve  22  is rotatably connected with the pivot  30  so that the sliding clip  21  can be rotated relative the base  20 . Therefore, the sliding clip  21  can be turned upright from the base  20  or turned against the upper surface  210  of the base  20  by means of the pivot  30  and the sleeve  22 . The sliding clip  21  has a rail clip  23  at the other end opposite to the sleeve  22 . The straight rail  11  is disposed in the indentation  106  of the upper cover  10  corresponding to the sliding clip  21 . The rail clip  23  clasps the straight rail  11  such that the straight rail  11  can move backwards and forwards within a limited range relative to the rail clip  23  such that the upper cover  10  can be pushed backwards and forwards relative to the base  20 . The limited range is defined by the position of the retaining block  104  within the indentation  106 . 
       FIGS. 3A ,  3 B and  3 C illustrate continuous movements of the preferred embodiment of the sliding and rotate-to-open hinge structure of this invention. Firstly, the upper cover  10  is slid relative to the base  20 , from an initial position where the upper surface  210  fully overlapping upon the base  20  (as illustrated in  FIG. 3A ), to an opening position where the retaining block  104  is in contact with the sliding clip  21  (as illustrated in  FIG. 3B ) and the upper cover  10  is pushed until its bottom  102  is aligned with the trench  220  at the same time. Then, the upper cover  10  can be turned over relative to the base  20  by turning both the straight rail  11  and the sliding clip  21 , thus swiveling the bottom  102  of the upper cover  10  into the trench  220  and raising the upper cover  10  on the base  20 , as shown in  FIG. 3C . 
     The invention provides portable electronic devices a function to raise the upper cover on the base which may includes input devices such as a keyboard, a touch pad and etc. Thus increases the varieties and the functional applications of a portable electronic device. 
     Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with-reference certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, their spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.