# US 11,907,025 B2 · Electronic device and latch mechanism

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- Number: US 11,907,025 B2
- Document ID: US11907025B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/886,220
- Filed: 2022-08-11
- Published: 2022-12-01
- Granted: 2024-02-20
- Earliest claimed: 2015-11-06
- Assignees: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Kenichi Shindo; Futoshi Kuriyama; Tatsuo Kuromoto
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11907025B2

## CPC

- G06F 1/1679: {for locking or maintaining the movable parts of the enclosure in a fixed position, e.g. latching mechanism at the edge of the display in a laptop or for the screen protective cover of a PDA (G06F1/1681 takes precedence)}
- G06F 1/1616: {with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position}
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

A latch mechanism includes a latch and a rotation shaft supporting part. The latch is rotatable around a rotation shaft between a housing position and a lock position, and fixes a first unit and a second unit in a closed state at the lock position. The rotation shaft supporting part rotatably supports the rotation shaft. The latch has a first ring-shaped part disposed coaxially with the rotation shaft. The rotation shaft supporting part has a second ring-shaped part disposed coaxially with the rotation shaft. Heights of the first ring-shaped part and the second ring-shaped part are set such that an area of abutment between the first ring-shaped part and the second ring-shaped part increases as the latch rotates from the lock position to the housing position.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An electronic device including a first unit and a second unit openable to the first unit, the electronic device comprising: the first unit has a keyboard, and the second unit has a display rotatably connected to the first unit through a hinge in a closed and an open states; a latch mechanism that fixes the second unit in the closed state with respect to the first unit, wherein the latch mechanism includes: a latch rotatable around a rotation shaft between a housing position and a lock position, the latch fixing the first unit and the second unit in the closed state at the lock position; and a rotation shaft supporting part that rotatably supports the rotation shaft on an edge of the first unit opposite to the hinge, the latch is disposed coaxially with the rotation shaft, the rotation shaft supporting part is biased by a biasing part in a predetermined direction, the biasing part biases the rotation shaft supporting part in a vertical direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotation shaft; and in the closed state, the biasing part biases the latch on both sides of the rotation shaft supporting part in the vertical direction and projectors of the latch are inserted in lock holes of the second unit to lock the first and second units.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising a biasing part supporting part that supports the biasing part.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the biasing part and the biasing part supporting part are disposed on each of both sides of the rotation shaft.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is any of a notebook type personal computer, a detachable type computer, a word processor, and an electronic dictionary.