Folding mechanism
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsTakehiko Konja, Katsuichi Minami
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A folding mechanism is provided in which a rotor substantially tubelike is arranged between the stationary body and movable body; cams with given gaps are arranged at both ends of the rotor and on the facing surfaces of the stationary body and movable body; and a lubricating layer is formed between the outer circumference of the stationary shaft and the inner circumference of the rotor. The simple makeup implements a folding mechanism with a low impact when opening and reliable opening/closing operation.
Claims3
A folding mechanism for folding a first housing with respect to a second housing, the folding mechanism comprising:
- a stationary body with a stationary shaft projecting at a center of a side of the stationary body, the stationary body coupled to one of the first housing or the second housing;
- a movable body arranged rotatably as against the stationary body;
- a spring for biasing the movable body in an open direction as against the stationary body;
- a rotor substantially tube-like, arranged between the stationary body and the movable body;
- and
- a movable case substantially tube-like, that contains the stationary body, the movable body, the spring, and the rotor, the movable case coupled to the other of the first housing or the second housing,
- wherein the rotor includes first and second rotor cams at opposite ends of the rotor, the stationary body includes a stationary cam, the movable body includes a movable cam and gaps are arranged (a) between the first rotor cam and the stationary cam and (b) between the second rotor cam and the movable cam;
- wherein the stationary shaft is rotatably coupled to the movable case;
- and
- wherein a first lubricating layer is formed between an outer circumference of the stationary shaft and an inner circumference of the rotor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.