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Mobile Phone Patent Abstract
A mobile phone with base-detachable hinge structure is provided.
The mobile phone compromises a base unit, a display unit, a hinge
structure and a protection casing. The hinge structure, which can
be attached to and detached from the base unit by means of a fixing
device, is detachable from the display unit and the base unit. The
design of base-detachable hinge structure in the invention facilitates
the assembly and repair of the mobile phone, lest the hinge structures
would be damaged during the process of disassembly resulting in
discarded base units. As a result, it becomes environmentally friendly
that unnecessary waste is reduced and the usefulness of the base
unit improved.
Mobile Phone Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A mobile phone with base-detachable hinge structure, comprising:
a base unit; a display unit, which comprises a first hinge hole
and a first hinge spindle; a hinge structure, detachably fixed on
the base unit, the hinge structure comprising a second hinge spindle
to fit into the first hinge hole joining up the hinge structure
with the display unit, wherein the hinge structure is attached to
and detached from the base unit by means of a fixing device, wherein
when the display unit is closed to and opened from the base unit,
the first hinge hole of the display unit accordingly rotates relative
to the second hinge spindle of the hinge structure fixed on the
base unit; and a protection casing, which is formed by joining up
the top protection casing forming a second hinge hole into which
the first hinge spindle fits joining up the protection casing with
the display unit.
2. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the fixing device
is a screw, passing through a screw hole on the base unit, is fastened
to the tooling hole on the hinge structure.
3. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the display unit
further includes: a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD); and a flange,
which is situated at one end of the display unit, having the first
hinge hole and the first hinge spindle.
4. The mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein the flange and
the display are formed in unity.
5. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the mobile phone
further comprises: a flexible circuit board, which is inside the
protection casing, comprising a winding to enhance the flexibility
of the flexible circuit board.
6. The mobile phone according to claim 5, wherein the flexible
circuit board is made of a flexible material.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
This application incorporates by reference Taiwanese application
Serial No. 90202275, Filed Feb. 15, 2001.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a mobile phone, and more particularly
to a mobile phone with a base-detachable hinge structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the busy communication between people, the mobile phone
has become an indispensable communication tool for modern people.
The mobile phone, being small in size and easy to carry with, enables
people to conveniently communicate with each other no matter wherever
they are or whenever they want to, and thus meets people's requirements
of convenience and efficiency.
Referring to FIG. 1A, an exploded diagram of a conventional mobile
phone 100 is illustrated. In FIG. 1A, the mobile phone 100 includes
an operation body 102 and a display unit 104, wherein hinge sections
106a and 106b are symmetrically situated at one end of the base
unit's top face 107 of the operation body 102 with hinge spindles
108a and 108b symmetrically positioned at hinge sections 106a and
106b respectively. Among which, the operation body 102 normally
further includes a number of buttons 114 with which the users in
put messages. The flange 110, which corresponds tog hinge sections
106a and 106b, is situated at one end of the display unit 104. The
hinge holes 112a and 112b, which correspond to the hinge spindles
108a and 108b respectively, are symmetrically positioned at both
sides of the flange 110. In addition, the display unit 104 normally
has a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) displaying messages of the mobile
phone 100. After the hinge spindles 108a and 108b having been fit
into the hinge holes 112a and 112b, the display unit 104 will be
able to be closed to the operation body 102 or opened from it as
illustrated in FIG. 1B.
It is noteworthy that in order to facilitate the signal transmission
between the LCD 116 and buttons 114 as in FIG. 1A, a circuit board
120 (as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1B) can be installed in the
mobile phone 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1B in practical application.
The circuit board 120 must be located inside the operation body
102, the flange 110 and the display unit 104 to facilitating electric
communication between the LCD 116 and buttons 114 as in FIG. 1A
and assuring a normal operation. Since the display unit 104 closes
to and opens from the operation body so frequently, besides, the
flexibility of the circuit board is normally not good enough, the
circuit board 120 needs to be equipped with a bending 122 to enhance
its flexibility lest the circuit board 120 will break easily. If
the display unit closes to and opens from the operation body frequently,
the bending 122 will become fragile. As a consequence, breakage
easily occurs at the bending 122 thus the service life of the circuit
board 120 is shortened.
Generally speaking, the operation body 102, hinge sections 106a
and 106b, and hinge spindles 108a and 108b are formed in unity,
so are the display unit 104 and the flange 110. Since the structures
of the two parts are both hard, it is difficult to assemble them.
However, hinge spindles 108a and 108b fit into hinge holes 112a
and 112b tightly after assembly has been done. When the mobile phone
100 is out of order and needs to be repaired, normally the display
unit 104 has to be detached from the operation body 102 in order
to fix the problems. Since the hinge spindles 108a and 108b fit
so tightly into the hinge holes 112a and 112b, the user needs exert
force in order to separate them apart. Therefore the structures
of hinge sections 106a and 106b are always found to have been damaged
after the display unit 104 is detached from the operation body 102.
Since the structure of the operation body 102, hinge sections 106a
and 106b, and hinge spindles 108a and 108b are formed in unity,
the operation body 102 cannot be used again and needs to be thrown
away if it is damaged. It is not only wasteful, but also environmentally
unfriendly. Besides, the user has to buy a new operation body. At
least, the user has to buy a shell of the operation body 102, the
so-called base unit of a mobile phone, to recover its original integral
outlook, which is a waste of money.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a mobile
phone with base-detachable hinge structure. The design of base-detachable
hinge structure facilitates the assembly and repair of the mobile
phone, lest the hinge structures would be damaged during the process
of disassembly resulting in discarded base units. As a result, it
becomes environmentally friendly that unnecessary waste is reduced
and the usefulness of the base unit improved.
According to the object of the invention, a mobile phone with base-detachable
hinge structure is provided, compromising a base unit, a display
unit, a hinge structure and a protection casing, wherein the display
unit has the first hinge hole and the first hinge spindle while
the hinge structure has the second hinge spindle to fit into the
first hinge hole joining up the hinge structure with the display
unit. Among which, the hinge structure is attached to and detached
from the base unit by means of a fixing device; the protection casing,
which is formed by joining up the top protection casing with the
root protection casing, has the second hinge hole into which the
first hinge spindle fits joining up the protection casing with the
display unit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become
apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred
but non-limiting embodiments. The description is made with reference
to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1A is an exploded diagram of a conventional mobile phone;
FIG. 1B is a side elevation of assembly according to the mobile
phone as in FIG. 1A;
FIG. 2A is an exploded diagram of a mobile phone with base-detachable
hinge structure according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2B is a side elevation of assembly according to the mobile
phone as in FIG. 2A.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A design of base-detachable hinge structure is provided in the
invention. The hinge structure can be attached to and detached from
the base unit by means of a fixing device. Not only the assembly
and repair of the mobile phone has become easier, but also avoid
discarding the base unit whose hinge structure is damaged during
the process of disassembly. As a result, it becomes environmentally
friendly that unnecessary wastes are reduced and the usefulness
of the base unit improved. Its practical embodiment is as follows:
Referring to FIG. 2A, an exploded diagram of a mobile phone with
base-detachable hinge structure according to a preferred embodiment
of the invention is shown. In FIG. 2A, the mobile phone 200 includes
a base unit 202, a display unit 204 and a hinge structure 206. The
hinge structure 206 comprises a connection board 207, hinge sections
208a and 208b, hinge spindle 210a and 210b, wherein hinge sections
208a and 208b are symmetrically positioned at the two ends of the
connection board 207; while hinge spindles 210a and 210b are symmetrically
positioned at two opposite inner sides of hinge sections 208a and
208b respectively. Among which, flanges 212a and 212b, which corresponds
to hinge sections 208a and 208b, are symmetrically situated at one
end of the display unit 204; hinge holes 214a and 214b, which corresponds
to hinge spindles 210a and 211b respectively, are symmetrically
positioned at the two outer sides of flanges 212a and 212b; while
hinge spindles 213a and 213b are symmetrically positioned at the
tow opposite inner sides of flanges 212a and 212b respectively.
It is noteworthy that the base unit is normally has a large number
of buttons (not shown in the diagram) through which messages are
inputted. The display unit 204 has a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
228 showing the messages of the mobile phone 200. Moreover, the
display unit can be closed to and opened from the base unit 202
after spindle 210a and 210b having been fit into hinge holes 214a
and 214b as illustrated in FIG. 2B.
The hinge structure 206 in the invention is attached to or detached
from the base unit 202 by means of a fixing device. The fixing device
can be screws 216a and 216b for instance. Screws 216a and 216b,
passing through the screw holes 218a and 218b on the base unit 202,
are fastened to the tooling holes on the hinge section 208 (not
shown in the diagram). If the hinge structure 206 is to be detached
from the base unit 202, the user just needs to unscrew screws 216a
and 216b from screw holes 218a and 218b, and the tooling holes.
The assembly and disassembly is thus made easy.
The protection casing (as is enclosed with dotted lines in FIG.
2A) includes a top protection casing 222 and a root protection casing
223, wherein the root protection casing 223 has click hooks 224a
and 224b to fasten the clips (not shown in the diagram) of the top
protection casing forming the protection casing 221 and hinge holes
225a and 225b positioned at the two sides of the protection casing
221 respectively. Furthermore, hinge spindles 213a and 213b fit
into hinge holes 225a and 225b respectively fastening the protection
casing to flanges 212a and 212b. In another aspect, the protection
casing 221 can be disassembled into the top protection casing 222
and the root protection casing 223 and detached from flanges 212a
and 212b as long as click hooks 224a and 224b are loosened from
the clips. The assembly and disassembly is easy and convenient.
When the mobile phone 200 runs out of order, it cannot be repaired
before the display unit 204 is detached from the base unit 202.
Firstly, detach the hinge structure 206 from the base unit 202.
Next, detach the hinge structure 206 from the display unit 204.
Because hinge spindles 210a and 210b fit into hinge holes 214a and
214b so tightly, the hinge structure 206 may be damaged after having
been detached from the base unit 202. Since the hinge structure
206 has been detached from the base unit 202, the user only needs
to change a new hinge structure instead of replacing the base unit
202 with a new one. Thus unnecessary wastes are reduced.
In order to facilitate the signal transmission between the LCD
228 and the buttons as in FIG. 2A, a flexible circuit board 230
(as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2B) can be installed in the mobile
phone 200 as illustrated in FIG. 1B in practical application. The
flexible circuit board 230 can be made of flexible materials such
that its flexibility is even better than the circuit board 120 as
in FIG. 1B. The flexible circuit board 230 must be located inside
the base unit 202, the protection casing 221 and the display unit
204 to facilitating electric communication between the LCD 228 and
buttons and assuring a normal operation. Since the display unit
204 closes to and opens from the base unit 202 so frequently, the
flexible circuit board 230 could easily break because of frequent
bending. According to the invention, the flexible circuit board
230 is particularly designed to have a winding 232 to enhance the
flexibility and avoid breaking so as to prolong the service life
of the flexible circuit board 230.
The mobile phone with base-detachable hinge structure is disclosed
in examples of preferred embodiments of the invention. The base-detachable
design not only facilitates the assembly and repair of the mobile
phone, but also avoids discarding the base unit whose hinge structure
is damaged during the process of disassembly. As a result, it becomes
environmentally friendly that unnecessary wastes are reduced and
the usefulness of the base unit improved.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in
terms of the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the
invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment. To the contrary,
it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements
and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should
be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such
modifications and similar arrangements and procedures. |