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Mobile Phone Patent Abstract
An auto-released hinge for a mobile phone has a barrel with two
open ends. The barrel has a first flange formed inside the barrel.
A first spiral slot is defined in the first flange. Two stop slots
are defined in the barrel and two second spiral slots are defined
between the respective stop slots and the first flange. A pintle
is rotatably received in the barrel, and has a first end extending
out from the barrel and a second flange formed adjacent a second
end of the pintle. A protrusion is formed at an outer periphery
of the pintle and received in the first spiral slot. Two ridges
are formed adjacent the second flange and respectively blocked in
the stop slots. A resilient member is provided outside the second
end of the pintle. A fastener is positioned in the barrel to fasten
the pintle and the resilient member.
Mobile Phone Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An auto-released hinge for a mobile phone comprising: a barrel
with two open ends, the barrel having a first flange formed inside
the barrel at the first open end, a first spiral slot defined in
an inner wall of the first flange, two stop slots defined in a middle
portion of the barrel and at two diametrically opposite inner sides,
and two second spiral slots defined at two diametrically opposite
inner sides of the barrel and between the respective stop slots
and the first flange; a pintle rotatably received in the barrel,
the pintle having a head formed at a first end of the pintle and
extending out from the first open end of the barrel, a second flange
formed adjacent a second end of the pintle and received in the barrel,
a protrusion formed at an outer periphery of the pintle and adjacent
the head and received in the first spiral slot, two ridges formed
at two diametrically opposite sides of the pintle and adjacent the
second flange and respectively blocked in the stop slots; a resilient
member provided outside the second end of the pintle; and a fastener
positioned in the barrel to fasten the pintle and the resilient
member in the barrel.
2. The auto-released hinge as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first
spiral slot extends in a half circumference of the barrel.
3. The auto-released hinge as claimed in claim 1, wherein the barrel
has two openings defined through an outer periphery of the barrel
and at the diametrically opposite sides and adjacent the second
open end, and the fastener has two wings respectively positioned
in the openings.
4. The auto-released hinge as claimed in claim 1 further comprising
a button mounted on the head of the pintle.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a hinge for a mobile phone,
and more particularly to a hinge installed between a cover and a
body of the mobile phone.
2. Description of Related Art
Some mobile phones have a cover pivotally mounted on a body by
a hinge, wherein the cover has an LCD panel installed therein, and
the body has a keyboard installed therein.
However, the cover mounted on the body by some conventional hinges
cannot automatically open, so that a user must continuously turn
the cover until the cover is completely raised, which is very inconvenient.
Therefore, the invention provides an auto-released hinge to mitigate
and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The main objective of the invention is to provide an auto-released
hinge for a mobile phone which can easily open a cover of the mobile
phone.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention
will become more apparent from the following detailed description
when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hinge for a mobile phone in accordance
with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional front view of the hinge in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional top view of the hinge in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a cross sectional top view of the hinge when a button
is pressed towards a barrel;
FIG. 6 is a cross sectional top view of the hinge when the button
is released and a pintle is moved outwards;
FIG. 7 is a cross sectional top view of the hinge when the pintle
is completely moved outwards to turn the barrel with respect to
the pintle; and
FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the mobile phone assembled with the
hinge in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8, an auto-released hinge
for a mobile phone in accordance with the present invention is composed
of a barrel (10), a pintle (20), a resilient member (30), a fastener
(31) and a button (29).
The barrel (10) with two open ends is installed on a body (50)
of the mobile phone. A first flange (11) is formed inside the barrel
(10) at the first open end. A first spiral slot (12) is defined
in an inner wall of the first flange (11) and extends in a half
circumference of the first flange (11) (e.g. an circumferential
angle of 180.degree.). Two stop slots (13) are defined in a middle
portion of the barrel (10) at two diametrically opposite inner sides.
Two second spiral slots (14) are defined at two diametrically opposite
inner sides of the barrel (10) and between the respective stop slots
(13) and the first flange (11). Two openings (100) are defined through
an outer periphery of the barrel (10) at the diametrically opposite
sides and adjacent the second open end.
The pintle (20) is installed on a cover (51) of the mobile phone
and rotatably received in the barrel (10). A head (not numbered)
with a non-circular cross section is formed at a first open end
of the pintle (20) and extends out from the first end of the barrel
(10). A second flange (21) is formed adjacent a second end of the
pintle (20) and received in the barrel (10). A protrusion (22) is
formed at an outer periphery of the pintle (20), is adjacent to
the head and is received in the first spiral slot (12). Two ridges
(23) are formed at two diametrically opposite sides of the pintle
(20) and is adjacent to the second flange (21), and travels of the
ridges (23) are respectively limited in the stop slots (13).
The resilient member (30) is received in the barrel (10) and provided
outside the second end of the pintle (20). The fastener (31) has
two wings (not numbered) positioned in the openings (100) to fasten
the resilient member (30) and the pintle (20) in the barrel (10).
The button (29) is mounted on the head of the pintle (20).
With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, when a user presses the button
(29), the protrusion (22) is moved in the barrel (10) along the
first spiral slot (12) and the resilient member (30) is compressed,
so the pintle (20) is slightly rotated about the barrel (10) to
enable the ridges (23) to release from the respective stop slots
(13).
With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, when the user releases the button
(29), under the elastic force of the resilient member (30), the
pintle (20) is pushed outwards and the ridges (23) are respectively
contacted with the second spiral slots (14). While the pintle (20)
is further moved outwards, the ridges (23) are guided by the second
spiral slots (14) to rotate the pintle (20) about the barrel (10)
until the ridges (23) are stopped by the first flange (11). Therefore,
the cover (5 1) integrated with the pintle (20) is raised from the
body (50) by the rotation of the pintle (20), as shown in FIG. 8.
When the user closes the cover (51), the pintle (20) is invertedly
rotated about the barrel (10) and retracted into the barrel (10).
Meanwhile, the ridges (23) are moved towards the stop slots (13)
along the second spiral slots (14). When the cover (51) is abutted
the body (50), the ridges (23) are blocked in the stop slots (13)
again.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics
and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the
foregoing description, together with details of the structure and
function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only,
and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape,
size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention
to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the
terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
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