Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Hinge – Including means to hold or retard hinged members against...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-12-03
2004-03-30
Mah, Chuck Y. (Department: 3676)
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Hinge
Including means to hold or retard hinged members against...
C016S340000, C016S337000, C016S356000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06711782
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a duplex opposite friction hinge and particularly a duplex opposite friction hinge adopted for use on notebook computers, computer screens or articles which have a lid for adjusting the extending angle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The notebook computers or handheld computers now being widely used have a display screen connecting to the computer processor through an axle coupling means. When in use, the display screen is flipped and extended. When not in use, the display screen may be folded to the computer processor to become a smaller size to facilitate storing and carrying.
In order to improve the convenience of use, it is generally required that the axle coupling means be adjustable in a stepless manner and be extended and anchored at a desired angle. The most commonly used axle coupling means for connecting the display screen and the computer processor is hinge. Referring to
FIG. 1
, a conventional hinge includes an axle
1
′ and a rotary member
2
′ coupling with the axle
1
′. When in use, applying a force on the rotary member
2
′, the friction force between the axle
1
′ and the rotary member
2
′ may be used to control the folding angle. The turning relationship between the axle
1
′ and the rotary member
2
′ may be that the axle
1
′ remains stationary while the rotary member
2
′ is turned, or the rotary member
2
′ remains stationary while the axle
1
′ is turned. Either way, such a structure occurs a metal friction loss during turning. The single piece rotary member
2
′ tends to occur metal fatigue after being turned reciprocally and repeatedly for a long period of time. As a result, the gap between the axle
1
′ and the rotary member
2
′ increases, and the display screen could become wobbling and cannot be anchored steadily when extended. In serious situations, the rotary member
2
′ might even fracture. Moreover, to increase the strength of the rotary member
2
′, the elasticity suffers and the impact of torque resulting from the dimension error becomes greater and adjustment of the hinge becomes difficult and service life of the hinge also suffers. On the other hand, reducing the strength of the rotary member
2
′ may increase the elasticity, but metal fatigue is easier to take place and the torque decreases. Hence in practice it is difficult to achieve a proper balance between the strength and the elasticity of the rotary member
2
′.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore the primary object of the invention is to resolve the aforesaid disadvantages. The invention provides two rotary members coupling with the axle in the opposite directions. The fastening sections (where the force is applied) are located transversely on the center line of the axle so that the two rotary members can provide same amount of friction forces. Thus when the hinge is turned in different directions, no adjustment error occurs.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5713672 (1998-02-01), Lu
patent: 5894635 (1999-04-01), Lu
patent: 6317927 (2001-11-01), Lai et al.
patent: 6336252 (2002-01-01), Bando
patent: 6588062 (2003-07-01), Novin et al.
patent: 10-47337 (1998-02-01), None
patent: 11-247840 (1999-09-01), None
patent: 2000-66762 (2000-03-01), None
patent: 2003-269437 (2003-09-01), None
patent: WO 95/16094 (1995-06-01), None
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Mah Chuck Y.
Sinher Technology Inc.
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