Foldable mobile terminal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9954985-B2
Application number	US-201515320787-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 19, 2015
Priority date	Jan 19, 2015
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

A foldable mobile terminal, including: an upper shell ( 11 ) and a lower shell ( 21 ) that are hinged, and a flexible panel ( 30 ) disposed on inner surfaces of the upper shell ( 11 ) and the lower shell ( 21 ); at least one of the upper shell ( 11 ) and the lower shell ( 21 ) can be pivoted inwardly or outwardly to an adjustable angle with respect to an hinge axis; a region of the upper shell ( 11 ) closer to the hinge axis includes an upper cavity ( 111 ), and a region of the lower shell ( 21 ) closer to the hinge axis includes a lower cavity ( 211 ); a region of the flexible panel ( 30 ) closer to the hinge axis includes a bending portion ( 301 ) and the flexible panel ( 30 ) can be bent at the bending portion ( 301 ); upon at least one of the upper shell ( 11 ) and the lower shell ( 21 ) is pivoted inwardly with respect to the hinge axis, the bending portion ( 301 ) is received in the upper cavity ( 111 ) and the lower cavity ( 211 ), so as to maintain a relatively large bending radius, and prevent the flexible panel from being broken.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A foldable mobile terminal, comprising an upper shell and a lower shell that are hinged; and a flexible panel disposed at folding inner surfaces of the upper shell and the lower shell, wherein
at least one of the upper shell and the lower shell can be pivoted inwardly or outwardly to an adjustable angle with respect to a hinge axis;
a region of the upper shell closer to the hinge axis comprises an upper cavity which is formed to be concaved from an inner side of the upper shell in a direction away from the flexible panel, and a region of the lower shell closer to the hinge axis comprises a lower cavity which is formed to be concaved from an inner side of the lower shell in a direction away from the flexible panel;
a region of the flexible panel closer to the hinge axis comprises a bending portion, and the flexible panel can be bent at the bending portion, and wherein
upon at least one of the upper shell and the lower shell is pivoted inwardly with respect to the hinge axis, the bending portion can be received in the upper cavity and the lower cavity,
the upper shell comprises an upper chute communicated with the upper cavity, and the lower shell comprises a lower chute communicated with the lower cavity, and
the mobile terminal further comprises:
an upper sliding plate mounted in the upper chute;
a lower sliding plate mounted in the lower chute; and

a driving element, the driving element is configured to drive the upper sliding plate to be partly protruded out of the upper chute to block an opening of the upper cavity and drive the lower sliding plate to be partly protruded out of the lower chute to block an opening of the lower cavity upon at least one of the upper shell and the lower shell is pivoted outwardly to a maximum adjustable angle with respect to the hinge axis; and the driving element is further configured to drive the upper sliding plate to be completely retracted to the upper chute to expose the opening of the upper cavity and drive the lower sliding plate to be completely retracted to the lower chute to expose the opening of the lower cavity upon at least one of the upper shell and the lower shell is pivoted inwardly with respect to the hinge axis to fold the mobile terminal.

2. The foldable mobile terminal according to claim 1 , wherein both the upper cavity and the lower cavity are arc-shaped cavity.

3. The foldable mobile terminal according to claim 1 , wherein a root portion of the upper shell comprises an upper hinge element, a root portion of the lower shell comprises a lower hinge element, and the lower hinge element and the upper hinge element are hinged with each other; and
the driving element comprises:
an upper linkage rod connected between the upper sliding plate and the lower hinge element; and
a lower linkage rod connected between the lower sliding plate and the upper hinge element.

4. The foldable mobile terminal according to claim 3 , wherein one of the upper hinge element and the lower hinge element has a hinge hole, and the other one of the upper hinge element and the lower hinge element has a hinge shaft which can be rotatablely mounted in the hinge hole.

5. The foldable mobile terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the adjustable angle is within a range of 0°-180°.

6. The foldable mobile terminal according to claim 1 , further comprising a display panel disposed on an outside surface of the upper shell.

7. The foldable mobile terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible panel comprises flexible display panel and flexible touch panel.

Assignees

• Boe Technology Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Xu Zhiqiang

Classifications

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• H04M1/0216 Primary

  Foldable in one direction, i.e. using a one degree of freedom hinge · CPC title