Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Assembling or joining
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-06
2001-06-26
Hughes, S. Thomas (Department: 3726)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Assembling or joining
C016S341000, C029S525110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06249951
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hinge structure for an electronic apparatus such as a laptop type personal computer, a word-processor, and the like.
FIG. 1
is a sectional view of one of a pair of hinges of a conventional information processing system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (JP-A) No. 237315 of 1992. The pair of hinges of this information processor causes a cover having a liquid crystal display (LCD) disposed therein to be rotatably supported on a main body casing having a keyboard, CPU and etc. disposed therein.
In
FIG. 1
, a bush
2
made of a material having a comparatively large coefficient of friction is fitted in a central shaft
1
which supports the cover (not shown) and which is strong enough to withstand a torque applied thereon. Further, the bush
2
is covered by a cylindrical housing
3
. A rotary support
4
is formed integral with the cover and is provided with a hinge receiving bore
5
at one end thereof. The housing
3
is received within the hinge receiving bore
5
. A flat portion la formed at the top end of the central shaft
1
is inserted into, and supported by, a hole
9
of a hinge metal
8
fixed to the main body casing
6
by means of a screw
7
. A rib
10
formed on the main body casing
6
supports the rotary support
4
.
In case of this information processing system, the operator may open and close the cover about a hinge so as to optionally adjust the angle of orientation of the cover while he looks at the screen of the liquid crystal display disposed within the cover.
A first drawback of the above-described conventional hinge structure resides in that in order to prevent the deformation of the hinge metal
8
for fixing the bush
2
, it is necessary for the hinge metal
8
to have a sufficient size and thickness to satisfy the rigidity thereof. Accordingly, it is difficult to make the information processing system compact, thin and light in weight for the sake of portability.
A second drawback of the above-described conventional hinge structure resides in that the hinge metal
8
and the screw
7
must be used for preventing the rotation of the bush
2
and for fixing the bush
2
. Consequently, the cost of parts such as the hinge metal
8
and the screw
7
and the cost of assembling these parts are needed to thereby increase the manufacturing cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a hinge structure for an electronic apparatus which structure is capable of making the electronic apparatus compact, thin and light in weight.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hinge structure for electronic apparatus which structure is capable of reducing the manufacturing cost of the electronic apparatus.
According to the present invention, there is provided a hinge structure for an electronic apparatus which structure is capable of rotatably supporting the cover of the electronic apparatus at a desired angle and which comprises a bush including a first rotary section and a second rotary section rotatably connected to the first rotary section so as to keep the cover at the abovementioned desired angle by a predetermined torque, a first hinge section provided at one end of the body of the electronic apparatus and adapted to fix one of the first rotary section and the second rotary section and a second hinge section provided at one end of the cover and adapted to fix the remaining one of the first and second rotary sections.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4186905 (1980-02-01), Brudy
patent: 4615464 (1986-10-01), Byrns
patent: 5052078 (1991-10-01), Hosoi
patent: 5077551 (1991-12-01), Saitou
patent: 5165145 (1992-11-01), Sherman
patent: 5278725 (1994-01-01), Konno
patent: 5333365 (1994-08-01), Katagiri
patent: 5507072 (1996-04-01), Youn
patent: 5566048 (1996-10-01), Esterberg et al.
patent: 5652694 (1997-07-01), Martin
patent: 5666694 (1997-09-01), Slow
patent: 5697124 (1997-12-01), Jung
patent: 5715576 (1998-02-01), Liu
patent: 5749124 (1998-05-01), Lu
patent: 5828341 (1998-10-01), Delumeter
patent: 4-237315 (1992-08-01), None
patent: 5-88780 (1993-04-01), None
patent: 7-98011 (1995-04-01), None
Kamiya Shinichi
Saida Yoshihide
Blount Steve
Hughes S. Thomas
NEC Corporation
Scully Scott Murphy & Presser
LandOfFree
Hinge structure for electronic apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Hinge structure for electronic apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Hinge structure for electronic apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2450241