Portable terminal having a hinge apparatus
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsWon-Tae Kim, Sang-Joon Park, Jong-Woo Kim, Seok-Gyu Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Provided is a portable terminal including a first housing, a second housing, and a hinge apparatus rotatably coupling the first housing and the second housing. The hinge apparatus includes a hinge housing fixed to the first housing, a hinge member fixed to the second housing and coupled to the hinge housing, the hinge member rotating around a hinge axis which extends perpendicular to a surface of the first housing, an interference protrusion provided on one of the hinge housing and the hinge member, and a stopper groove formed in the other of the hinge housing and the hinge member wherein the hinge member rotates around the hinge axis while being spaced apart from the hinge housing.
Claims19
A portable terminal comprising a first housing, a second housing coupled to the first housing to rotate while facing the first housing, and a hinge apparatus rotatably coupling the first housing and the second housing, the hinge apparatus comprising:
- a hinge housing having a first flat coupling portion and fixed to the first housing;
- a hinge member having a second flat coupling portion and fixed to the second housing and rotatable coupled to the hinge housing, the hinge member rotating around a hinge axis which extends perpendicular to a surface of the first housing, wherein the first flat coupling portion and the second flat coupling portion are parallel to one another;
- at least one interference protrusion provided on one of the hinge housing and the hinge member;
- and
- at least one stopper groove formed in the other of the hinge housing and the hinge member,
- wherein when the first housing overlaps the second housing in a predetermined alignment, the interference protrusion is engaged with the stopper groove;
- when the first housing and the second housing rotate out of the alignment, said interference protrusion is disengaged from the stopper groove and is interfered by the other of the hinge housing and the hinge member, such that the hinge member rotates around the hinge axis while being spaced apart from the hinge housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.