Housing assembly and electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10416726-B2
Application number	US-201815869432-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 12, 2018
Priority date	Jan 26, 2017
Publication date	Sep 17, 2019
Grant date	Sep 17, 2019

Abstract

A housing assembly is provided. The housing assembly includes a first housing, a second housing and a connecting module. The connecting module is coupled between the first housing and the second housing. The first housing is rotatable with respect to the second housing by the connecting module. The connecting module includes a damping mechanism configured for providing a damping force to the first housing and the second housing during rotating the first housing with respect to the second housing. An electronic device is also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A housing assembly, comprising:
a first housing;
a second housing; and
a connecting module coupled between the first housing and the second housing, the first housing being rotatable with respect to the second housing by the connecting module, the connecting module comprising:
a coupling member, comprising:
a hinge shaft,
a plurality of first hinge elements arranged along the longitudinal direction of the hinge shaft, the first hinge elements configured to be coupled to the first housing, and
a plurality of second hinge elements arranged along the longitudinal direction of the hinge shaft, the second hinge elements configured to be coupled to the second housing, wherein the first hinge elements and the second hinge elements are alternatively arranged along the longitudinal direction of the hinge shaft; and

a damping mechanism configured for providing a damping force to the first housing and the second housing during rotating the first housing with respect to the second housing.

2. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the damping mechanism comprises a damping member,
the damping member being sleeved on the hinge shaft and located between one of the first hinge elements and one of the second hinge elements adjacent to the one of the first hinge elements and configured for providing the damping force to the first hinge elements and the second hinge elements during rotating the first hinge elements with respect to the second hinge elements.

3. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the damping member comprises:
a first damping ring sleeved on the hinge shaft and coupled to the one of the first hinge elements; and
a second damping ring in contact with the first damping ring, sleeved on the hinge shaft and coupled to the one of the second hinge elements.

4. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the one of the first hinge elements defines a first depression facing the one of the second hinge elements, the first damping ring is positioned in the first depression, the second hinge element defines a second depression facing the one of the first hinge elements, and the second damping ring is positioned in the second depression.

5. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the damping member comprises:
a first elastic ring sleeved on the hinge shaft and located between the first damping ring and the one of the first hinge elements and configured to provide a force toward the second damping ring to the first damping ring; and
a second elastic ring sleeved on the hinge shaft and located between the second damping ring and the one of the second hinge elements and configured to provide a force toward the first damping ring to the second damping ring.

6. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the damping member comprises:
a clasp ring sleeved on the hinge shaft and configured to prevent the first elastic ring from moving along the hinge shaft.

7. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the damping member comprises:
another clasp ring sleeved on the hinge shaft and configured to prevent the second elastic ring from moving along the hinge shaft.

8. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the coupling member comprises:
a first connection part, the first connection part slidably coupled to the first housing;
a third hinge element slidably coupled to the first housing by the first connection part; and
an auxiliary hinge shaft parallel to the hinge shaft and configured to pivotally couple the third hinge element to the first hinge elements.

9. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the damping mechanism comprises an auxiliary damping member, the auxiliary damping member being sleeved on the auxiliary hinge shaft and located between one of the first hinge elements and the third hinge element adjacent to the one of the first hinge elements and configured for providing a damping force to the one of the first hinge elements and the third hinge element during rotating the one of the first hinge elements with respect to the third hinge element.

10. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the coupling member comprises:
a second connection part, the second connection part slidably coupled to the second housing;
a fourth hinge element slidably coupled to the second housing by the second connection; and
another auxiliary hinge shaft parallel to the hinge shaft and configured to pivotally couple the fourth hinge element to the second hinge elements.

11. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the damping mechanism comprises another auxiliary damping member, the another auxiliary damping member being sleeved on the another auxiliary shaft and located between one of the second hinge elements and the fourth hinge element adjacent to the one of the second hinge elements and configured for providing a damping force to the one of the second hinge elements and the fourth hinge element during rotating the one of the second hinge elements with respect to the fourth hinge element.

12. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the connecting module further comprises a connecting member coupled between the first housing and the second housing, the first hinge elements facing the connecting member and configured to support the connecting member.

13. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the housing assembly further comprises a positioning member, the positioning member being coupled between the connecting member and the coupling member and configured to prevent a movement of the coupling member along a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the connecting member relative to the connecting member.

14. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the positioning member comprises a first end and a second end opposite to the first end, the first end is fixed to the connecting member, and the second end is coupled to the first hinge elements.

15. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the second end of the positioning member defines a positioning groove extending from the second end to the first end, and the coupling member comprises a sliding rod slidably coupled to the positioning groove and received in the positioning groove.

16. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the first end is integrated with the connecting member.

17. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the positioning member further comprises a wear resistant unit, the wear resistant unit being disposed in the positioning groove and in contact with an inner surface of the positioning member in the positioning groove.

18. The housing assembly as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the positioning member is flexible.

19. An electronic device, comprising:
a first housing;
a second housing; and
a connecting module coupled between the first housing and the second housing, the first housing being rotatable with respect to the second housing, the connecting module comprising:
a coupling member, comprising:
a hinge shaft,
a plurality of first hinge elements arranged along the longitudinal direction of the hinge shaft, the first hinge elements configured to be coupled to the first housing, and
a plurality of second hinge elements arranged along the longitudinal direction of the hinge shaft, the second hinge elements configured to be coupled to the second housing, wherein the first hinge elements and the second hinge elements are alternatively arranged

Assignees

• Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd

Inventors

• Lin Yugui

Classifications

• H04M1/022

  The hinge comprising two parallel pivoting axes · CPC title

• G06F1/1641

  the display being formed by a plurality of foldable display components (G06F1/1647 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04B1/3888

  Arrangements for carrying or protecting transceivers · CPC title

• G06F1/1626

  with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs] · CPC title

• G06F1/1652

  the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable · CPC title