Eyewear device hinge assembly
AssigneeSnap Inc.
InventorsEmily Lauren Clopp, Jun Lin, Douglas Wayne Moskowitz, Stephen Andrew Steger, Nicholas Daniel Streets
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hinge assembly mounted on a housing of form part of an electronic device includes a metal hinge member having a hinge post that extends through a mounting hole in a wall of the housing, the hinge post being connected to a metal anchor plate on an inner side of the housing wall to be rotationally and axially fast with the anchor plate. The anchor plate may has an area multiple times the size of a footprint of the hinge member, with fastening the hinge post and the anchor plate in some embodiments being by a welded connection.
Claims20
A housing assembly comprising:
- a housing defining a housing cavity for holding electronics components, the housing including a housing wall that defines a mounting hole extending transversely therethrough, the housing wall having an outer side and having an opposite inner side which borders the housing cavity;
- a hinge member mounted at least partially in the mounting hole, the hinge member being of one-piece construction and comprising a hinge formation projecting from the outer side of the housing wall for connection to a complementary hinge formation to form a hinge mechanism, the hinge member being anchored against axial movement through the mounting hole towards the inner side;
- and
- an anchor plate located on the inner side of the housing wall, the anchor plate being transverse to the mounting hole and being connected to the hinge member such that axial movement of the hinge formation away from the outer side of the housing wall is resisted by obstruction of the anchor plate by the housing wall.
A device that comprises:
- a housing defining a housing cavity for holding electronics components, the housing including a housing wall that defines a mounting hole extending transversely therethrough, the housing wall having an outer side and having an opposite inner side which borders the housing cavity;
- a hinge member mounted at least partially in the mounting hole, the hinge member being of one-piece construction and comprising a hinge formation projecting from the outer side of the housing wall for connection to a complementary hinge formation to form a hinge mechanism, the hinge member being anchored against axial movement through the mounting hole towards the inner side;
- and
- an anchor plate located on the inner side of the housing wall, the anchor plate being transverse to the mounting hole and being connected to the hinge member such that axial movement of the hinge formation away from the outer side of the housing wall is resisted by obstruction of the anchor plate by the housing wall.
A method of manufacturing an eyewear device, the method comprising:
- locating a hinge member on a housing wall of a housing for electronics components such that a hinge formation forming part of the hinge member projects away from an outer side of the housing wall for connection to a complementary hinge formation of a hinge mechanism to hingedly connect a temple component to an eyewear frame, a flange forming part of the hinge member being located on the outer side of the housing wall, the hinge member being a component of one-piece construction;
- locating an anchor plate on an inner side of the housing wall, within a housing cavity defined by the housing, the anchor plate being substantially parallel to the housing wall;
- and
- attaching the anchor plate to the hinge member, such that at least part of the housing wall is sandwiched between the anchor plate and the flange, movement of the hinge member away from the outer side of the housing wall being resisted by obstruction of the anchor plate against the housing wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.