Telephonic communications – Terminal – Housing or housing component
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-11
2003-10-14
Chiang, Jack (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Terminal
Housing or housing component
Reexamination Certificate
active
06633643
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hinge structure for a collapsible portable phone.
Recently, a variety of kinds and a variety of specifications of portable phones have been proposed in order to meet the consumers' needs under the circumstances that portable phones have been used more and more.
Under such circumstances, there has been proposed a collapsible portable phone composed of an operating body provided with a phone operating portion on its surface and a display body pivotally and collapsibly coupled with the operating body and provided with a liquid crystal display image field that may display Arabic numerals or letters such as names or phone numbers on its surface. Not only may this type portable phone be collapsed to be superior in portability and a malfunction of the phone operating portion may be prevented when the phone operating portion is protected or concealed in the case where the portable phone is put into a pocket in the collapsed condition. On the other hand, this structure has an advantage that the user may enjoy the conversation comfortably because the overall length is elongated when opened. In some cases, the user would feel uncomfortable unless a microphone portion is close to his or her mouth.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present inventors have paid his attention to this type collapsible portable phone and have invented a hinge structure for a novel collapsible portable phone that is extremely convenient in use, extremely high in commercial applicability, and may cultivate or motivate the consumers' heart to buy.
In order to attain this and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a hinge structure for a collapsible portable phone, comprising: an operating member provided with a phone operating portion on its surface; a display member, pivotally and collapsibly coupled with the operating member and provided with a display image field in which numerals and/or letters for phone numbers and/or names may be displayed on its surface; and a biasing mechanism that may exhibit a closing biasing force for biasing the display member in a closing direction between a closed condition that the display member is collapsed to the operating member and a predetermined rotational position where the display member is rotated to the operating member in an opening direction and may exhibit an opening biasing force for biasing the display member in the opening direction between a fully opened condition that the display member is fully opened to the operating member and a predetermined rotational position where the display member is rotated in the closing direction, the biasing mechanism being provided at a pivot portion between the operating member and the display member, wherein a rotary shaft coupled with the operating member is provided, a bearing member provided with a recess portion that may be engaged in a convex/concave engagement manner with an elongate projection provided in the rotary shaft is coupled with the display member, the elongate projection provided on the rotary shat and the recess portion provided in the bearing member are liable to engage with each other from a disengaged condition, when the rotary shaft is rotated relative to the bearing member about an axis, so that a rotational biasing force is generated between the rotary shaft and the bearing member for rotating the rotary shaft, the rotational biasing force is set so that the elongate projection provided in the rotary shaft and the recess portion provided in the bearing member are disengaged away from each other so that the rotational biasing force does not work when the display member is being rotated to the operating member between the predetermined rotational positions, and the rotational biasing force is set so that the elongate projection provided on the rotary shaft and the recess portion provided in the bearing member are liable to engage with each other so that the display member is rotated from the collapsed condition relative to the operating member up to the predetermined rotational position where the display member is rotated in the opening direction and from the opened condition that the display member is fully opened to the operating member to the predetermined rotational position that the display member is rotated in the closing direction to thereby work as the closing biasing force and the opening biasing force.
Also, according to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a hinge structure for a collapsible portable phone, comprising: an operating member provided with a phone operating portion on its surface; a display member, pivotally and collapsibly coupled with the operating member and provided with a display image field in which numerals and/or letters for phone numbers and/or names may be displayed on its surface; and a biasing mechanism that may exhibit a closing biasing force for biasing the display member in a closing direction between a closed condition that the display member is collapsed to the operating member and a predetermined rotational position where the display member is rotated to the operating member in an opening direction and may exhibit an opening biasing force for biasing the display member in the opening direction between a fully opened condition that the display member is fully opened to the operating member and a predetermined rotational position where the display member is rotated in the closing direction, the biasing mechanism being provided at a pivot portion between the operating member and the display member, wherein a rotary shaft coupled with the operating member is provided, a bearing member provided with an elongate projection that may be engaged in a convex/concave engagement manner with a recess portion provided in the rotary shaft is coupled with the display member, the recess portion provided on the rotary shat and the elongated projection provided in the bearing member are liable to engage with each other from a disengaged condition, when the rotary shaft is rotated relative to the bearing member about an axis, so that a rotational biasing force is generated between the rotary shaft and the bearing member for rotating the rotary shaft, the rotational biasing force is set so that the recess portion provided in the rotary shaft and the elongate projection provided in the bearing member are disengaged away from each other so that the rotational biasing force does not work when the display member is being rotated to the operating member between the predetermined rotational positions, and the rotational biasing force is set so that the recess portion provided on the rotary shaft and the elongate projection provided in the bearing member are liable to engage with each other so that the display member is rotated from the collapsed condition relative to the operating member up to the predetermined rotational position where the display member is rotated in the opening direction and from the opened condition that the display member is fully opened to the operating member to the predetermined rotational position that the display member is rotated in the closing direction to thereby work as the closing biasing force and the opening biasing force.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a hinge structure for a collapsible portable phone, comprising: an operating member provided with a phone operating portion on its surface; a display member, pivotally and collapsibly coupled with the operating member and provided with a display image field in which numerals and/or letters for phone numbers and/or names may be displayed on its surface; and a biasing mechanism that may exhibit a closing biasing force for biasing the display member in a closing direction between a closed condition that the display member is collapsed to the operating member and a predetermined rotational position where the display member is rotated to the operating member in an opening direction and may exhibit an opening biasing force for biasing the display member in the opening direction between
Chiang Jack
Kabushiki Kaisha Strawberry Corporation
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