Foldable mobile terminal
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsChi-Young Kim, Jun-Yeob Seong, Byoung-Chul Kim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable terminal includes a first body having a first touch screen on an outer surface of the first body, a second body having a second touch screen on an outer surface of the second body, and a hinge unit configured to rotatably connect the first body and the second body. The first touch screen and the second touch screen face the same direction in an unfolded configuration, and the first touch screen and the second touch screen face each other in a folded configuration. The portable terminal further includes a rotation preventing unit configured to prevent relative rotation of the first body and the second body in the absence of an action for relative rotation when the portable terminal is in the unfolded configuration.
Claims15
A portable terminal comprising:
- a first body having a first hinge portion;
- a first touch screen on an outer surface of the first body;
- a second body having a second hinge portion;
- a second touch screen on an outer surface of the second body;
- a hinge module configured to rotatably connect the first and second hinge portions to facilitate relative rotation of the first and second
- bodies in a first direction for an unfolded configuration in which the first touch screen and the second touch screen face the same direction and
- a second direction for a folded configuration in which the first touch screen and the second touch screen face each other, wherein the hinge module comprises a housing secured to the first hinge portion and having an inner space, a movable cam disposed in the inner space of the housing to be linearly movable, a fixed cam secured to the second hinge portion and configured to contact one end of the movable cam to perform the relative rotation, and a spring disposed in the housing and configured to support the other end of the movable cam;
- a locking unit configured to lock the first and second bodies in the unfolded configuration, the locking unit comprising a first linearly movable stopper disposed in the first body and a second stopper rotating together with the fixed cam and configured to stop at the first stopper such that the first stopper and the second stopper are locked when the first body and the second body are in the unfolded configuration;
- an unlocking unit configured to unlock the first and second bodies that are locked in the unfolded configuration when the first and second bodies are further relatively rotated in the first direction by a preset angle in the unfolded configuration;
- and
- a rotation preventing unit provided in the hinge module and configured to prevent relative rotation of the first body and the second body in the second direction in the absence of an action for the relative rotation when the portable terminal is in the unfolded configuration,
- wherein the unlocking unit comprises an extending protrusion extending from the first stopper toward the outside of the first body and a push protrusion formed at the second body and configured to move the first stopper when the extending protrusion is pushed to release the locked first and second stoppers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.