Patent Publication Number: US-2007119027-A1

Title: Foldable and rotatable mobile phone with positioning mechanism

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a mobile phone, and more particularly to a foldable and rotatable mobile phone with positioning mechanism.  
      2. The Related Art  
      Two way communication device, such as pagers and foldable mobile phones, are increasingly utilizing two foldable housing assemblies for compactness. The housing assemblies are usually referred to as a body and a cover. In most instances, the body includes a keypad and the bulk of electronics for receiving and transmitting messages from a remote transmission station. A small portion of electronics and a display is located in the cover of the foldable mobile phone. The cover and the body are connected with hinging mechanism. The display and the keypad face each other and enclose them on the inside of the foldable mobile phone when mobile phones are in a fold position. When use the mobile phone, a user lifts the cover up to be an unfolded position  
      Recently, a mobile phone having a camera for image communication has been developed. In such mobile phone, the camera is embedded in the body or the cover, or detachably mounted at the hinging mechanism. In order to take pictures in all directions, the camera embedded together with the body or the flip cover or the hinging mechanism should be able to be turned to all directions while ensuring the display always faces the user to enable the user to identify whether the camera takes pictures normally. Under such requirement, a mobile phone, of which the cover can perform rotating operation besides unfolding or opening and closing operation relative to the body, has been developed. However, there is a problem in that when the cover is unfolded, the cover maybe unintentionally rotates to an undesired direction.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a foldable and rotatable mobile phone with positioning mechanism which is capable of positioning a cover of the mobile phone when the cover should not rotate in an unfolded position and release the cover when rotate the cover intentionally, thereby preventing unintentional rotation of the cover.  
      In order to fulfill the object above, the present invention provides a foldable and rotatable mobile phone, which includes a cover, a body, a hinge unit rotationally coupling the cover and the body about a first axis for unfolding the cover and about a second axis perpendicular to the first axis for rotating the cover, and a positioning mechanism for positioning the cover in unfolded positions. The cover has a bottom surface. A positioning hole is defined in the bottom surface of the cover. The hinge unit has a top surface. An opening is defined in the top surface corresponding to the positioning hole. The positioning mechanism includes a cantilevered arm disposed in the hinge unit. One end of the cantilevered arm connects to the hinge unit, while the other end is free and forms a protuberance thereon. The protuberance extends above the top surface of the hinge unit through the opening and is depressible within the opening. In use, the protuberance is inserted into the positioning hole for positioning the cover or release from the positioning hole for permitting the cover rotation.  
      When the cover is desired to be kept in unfolded positions without rotation, the protuberance is inserted into the positioning hole of the cover to prevent the cover from rotating. While the cover rotates, the protuberance is depressed by the cover and then released from the positioning hole to permit the cover to rotate. Therefore, unintentional rotation of the cover is avoided. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a foldable and rotatable mobile phone with positioning mechanism according to the present invention, in which a cover of the mobile phone is in an unfolded position;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the cover of the foldable and rotatable mobile phone shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a hinge unit of the foldable and rotatable mobile phone shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIGS. 4A and 4C  are cross-sectional views of the hinge unit shown in  FIG.3 ;  
       FIG. 4B  is a partially enlarged view of the encircled portion labeled  4 B of  FIG. 4A ;  
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view C of a positioning mechanism of the foldable and rotatable mobile phone;  
       FIG. 6A  is a cross-sectional view showing the positioning mechanism of the first embodiment mounted in the hinge unit;  
       FIG. 6B  is a partially enlarged view of the encircled portion labeled  6 B of  FIG. 6A ;  
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the foldable and rotatable mobile phone showing the rotation of the cover;  
       FIG. 8A  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a positioning mechanism of the foldable and rotatable mobile phone;  
       FIG. 8B  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 8A ; and  
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the foldable and rotatable mobile phone showing the rotation of the cover. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      For facilitating understanding, like components are designated by like reference numerals throughout the various embodiments of the invention as shown in the attached drawings.  
      With reference to  FIGS. 1-7 , a first embodiment of a foldable and rotatable mobile phone according to the present invention is shown. The mobile phone includes a hinge unit  10 , a body  20 , a cover  30 , and a positioning mechanism  40 . The hinge unit  10  rotationally couples the cover  30  and the body  20  by a first axis O 1  for unfolding the cover  30  as seen in  FIG. 1  and a second axis O 2  perpendicular to the first axis O 1  for rotating the cover  30  as seen in  FIG. 7 . Since the rotation structure and rotation function of the hinge unit  10  is well known to those skilled in the art, a detailed description thereof is omitted herein except new structures designed thereon in the present invention as described hereinafter. The positioning mechanism  40  is disposed between the cover  30  and the hinge unit  10  for positioning the cover  30  in unfolded positions without rotation (as shown in  FIG. 1 ) as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , the cover  30  has a bottom surface  31 . A pair of positioning holes  32  is defined in the bottom surface  31 .  
      Please refer to  FIG. 3  in conjunction with  FIGS. 1 and 7 . The hinge unit  10  has a top surface  11 . In the assembly, the bottom surface  31  of the cover  30  is overlapped on the top surface  11  of the hinge unit  10  as shown in  FIG. 1 . Once the cover  30  is rotated around the second axis O 2 , the bottom surface  31  and the top surface  11  are staggered. A pair of openings  12  is defined in the top surface  11  corresponding to the pair of positioning holes  32  of the cover  30 .  
       FIGS. 4A-4C  show a detailed inner structure of the hinge unit  10 . A receiving space  13  is formed in the hinge unit  10 . The receiving space  13  opens to the top surface  11  through the openings  12 . A pair of fixing bolts  14  are disposed in the receiving space  13  beside each opening  12 . Adjacent to each opening  12 , a pair of restricting blocks  15  are provided with a predetermined space there-between.  
       FIG. 5  shows the positioning mechanism  40  including two cantilevered arms  43 . Each cantilevered arm  43  has a first end  41  and an opposite second end  44 . The first end  41  defines a fixing hole  42  extending there-through. The second end  44  forms a protuberance  45  thereon. Referring to  FIGS. 6A and 6B , the fixing bolt  14  is inserted into the fixing hole  42  so that the first end  41  of the cantilevered arm  43  is connected to the hinge unit  10  while leaving the second end  44  free. The protuberance  45  extends above the top surface  11  of the hinge unit  10  through the opening  12 . Since the second end  44  is free, the protuberance  45  is depressible within the opening  12 . The space between the pair of restricting blocks  15  is about the width the second end  44  in order to receive the second end  44  there-between. So the second end  44  is only allowed to move upward and downward and prohibited to move sideward. In this way, the pair of restricting blocks  15  guides the protuberance  45  aligning to the opening  12  all the way.  
       FIGS. 1 and 7  are perspective views of the foldable and rotatable mobile phone. Prior to assembly of the cover  30  and the body  20 , the positioning mechanism  40  is disposed into the hinge unit  10  as described above. Thereafter, the bottom side of the hinge unit  10  connects to the body  20 , and the opposite top side of the hinge unit  10  connects to the cover  30 . After the cover  30  is connected to the hinge unit  10 , the cover  30  is rotatable around the second axis O 2 . During the rotation, the protuberance  45  is pressed downward by the bottom surface  31  of the cover  30  until it is approximately flush with the top surface  11  of the hinge unit  10 . Then the protuberance  45  is maintained depressed and the second end  44  of the cantilevered arm  43  generates a compression force. Once the protuberance  45  is aligned to the positioning hole  32 , a resilient force of the second end  44  of the cantilevered arm  43  urges the protuberance  45  to be inserted into the positioning hole  32  of the cover  30 . Thus the cover  30  is positioned and can be kept in unfolded positions without rotation. Unintentional rotation of the cover  30  is avoided. When the cover  30  is desired to be rotated, rotates the cover  30  manually, and the protuberance  45  is depressed within the opening  12  again. The protuberance  45  releases from the positioning hole  32 . So the cover  30  is allowed to rotate.  
      With reference to  FIGS. 8A, 8B  and  9 , a second embodiment of the foldable and rotatable mobile phone is shown. The foldable and rotatable mobile phone in the second embodiment is similar to that shown in the first embodiment. The difference between the first embodiment and the second embodiment is only in the positioning mechanism  40 ′. The positioning mechanism  40 ′ includes a pair of cantilevered arms  43 ′. Each cantilevered arm  43 ′ is an integrally molded portion of the hinge unit  10 . The free end of the cantilevered arm  43 ′ forms a protuberance  45 ′ thereon and extends to the opening  12 . The protuberance  45 ′ projects above the top surface  11  of the hinge unit  10 .  
      The foregoing description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to those skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined by the accompanying claims.