Mobile terminal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9591109-B2
Application number	US-201514662533-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2015
Priority date	Sep 25, 2014
Publication date	Mar 7, 2017
Grant date	Mar 7, 2017

Abstract

There is disclosed a mobile terminal including a curvedly flexible display unit, a case having a case to which the display unit is coupled, wherein the case includes a first case, a second case coupled to the first case to rotate with respect to the first case in a preset range of angles, a hinge shaft provided in the first case, a hinge housing provided in the second case, the hinge housing in which the hinge shaft is disposed, with a cylindrical shape, and a stopper for adjusting a rotation angle between the first case and the second case. The curvature of the mobile terminal may be variable and that it may be convenient to hand-carry the mobile terminal. In addition, the user can change the curvature he or she can feel comfortable. Even when a force is applied to an end of the mobile terminal, the damage on the mobile terminal can be prevented.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile terminal comprising:
a case; and
a flexible display unit to couple to the case;
wherein the case includes:
a first case;
a second case to couple to the first case, and the second case to rotate with respect to the first case within a preset range of angles, wherein a border surface of the first case and a border surface of the second case face each other;
a hinge shaft at the first case;
a hinge housing at the second case, a portion of the hinge shaft to be provided in the hinge housing;
a stopper to restrict a rotational angle between the first case and the second case,
wherein the stopper includes:
an angle restricting groove recessed from the border surface of the first case;
a stopping projection to project from the border surface of the second case to the angle restricting groove, and at least a portion of the stopping projection to be provided at the angle restricting groove;
a guide projection at a lateral surface of the stopping projection; and
a guide groove at a lateral surface of the angle restricting groove provided at the second case, a portion of the guide projection to be provided at the guide groove,
the stopping projection includes a taper-shaped stopping projection getting smaller than the angle restricting groove,
wherein a plurality of guide projections and a plurality of guide grooves are provided along a longitudinal direction of the case, and
the guide projections are stopped by an end of the guide groove.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein the stopper includes:
a first stopper to restrict a rotational angle toward a first surface; and
a second stopper to restrict a rotational angle toward a second surface.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein a border surface between the first case and the second case comprises includes a curved surface with respect to the hinge shaft.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 3 , wherein the border surface has a projection or is formed of a material having a large friction coefficient.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein the first case includes:
a first front case at a rear surface of the display unit;
a first rear case to couple to a rear surface of the first front case; and
an attachment device to couple the first front case to the second front case, and
the hinge housing to couple the first front case to the first rear case, and
the attachment device to couple to a portion adjacent to the hinge housing.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first tape to attach the first case to the display unit; and
a second tape to attach the second case to the display,
wherein the second tape is spaced apart by a preset distance from a border area between the first case and the second case.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , further comprising:
a third case to rotatably couple to the second case,
wherein the first case to couple to a first portion of the second case, and the third case to couple to a second portion of the second case.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein a main board is provided in the first case, and a battery is provided in the second case.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 8 , wherein a connection hole is formed in the first case and the second case, and
a flexible board to couple the main board to the battery through the connection hole.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein the flexible display unit is an organic light emitting diode (OLED).

11. A mobile terminal comprising:
a first case;
a second case to couple to the first case, and the second case to rotate with respect to the first case, wherein a border surface of the first case and a border surface of the second case face each other;
a hinge shaft at the first case, the hinge shaft having a cylindrical shape;
a hinge housing at the second case, a portion of the hinge shaft to be provided in the hinge housing; and
a stopper to restrict rotational of the first case relative to the second case,
wherein the stopper includes an angle restricting groove recessed from the border surface of the first case and a stopping projection to project from the border surface of the second case to the angle restricting groove, and at least a portion of the stopping projection to be provided at the angle restricting groove,
wherein the angle restricting groove has a step portion stepped from the border surface of the second case and an inclined surface formed at an opposite portion of the step portion, and
wherein the stopping projection moves along the inclined surface and is stopped by the step portion to restrict a rotational angle of the first case relative to the second case.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Song Insu
• Lee Jaewook
• Kwon Wooyong
• Kim Seyong
• Park Minho

Classifications

• H04M1/0269

  mounted in a fixed curved configuration, e.g. display curved around the edges of the telephone housing · CPC title

• H04M1/0208 Primary

  characterized by the relative motions of the body parts · CPC title

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title