U.S. patent application number 10/601153 was filed with the patent office on 2005-01-13 for hinge assembly with a rotation seat available to rotate in both latitudinal and longitudinal directions with respect to a fixing seat.
Invention is credited to Hsu, Tien-Yueh, Lu, Sheng-Nan.
Application Number | 20050005399 10/601153 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33564097 |
Filed Date | 2005-01-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050005399 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lu, Sheng-Nan ; et
al. |
January 13, 2005 |
HINGE ASSEMBLY WITH A ROTATION SEAT AVAILABLE TO ROTATE IN BOTH
LATITUDINAL AND LONGITUDINAL DIRECTIONS WITH RESPECT TO A FIXING
SEAT
Abstract
A hinge assembly includes a fixing seat and a rotation seat
rotatable in relation to the fixing seat. The fixing seat has a
fixing plate for connection to a mainframe of an electronic device,
a rotation shaft securely connected to the fixing plate and having
a limiting flange formed on a mediate portion of the rotation
shaft, and a limiting disk securely mounted on the rotation shaft
and having two limiting edges. The rotation seat has a body
rotatably mounted on the rotation shaft and having two connection
legs each rotatably received in two tubes and an extension to
selectively engage with either one of the limiting edges to limit a
rotation angle of the body to the fixing plate and leaf springs
mounted on the rotation shaft.
Inventors: |
Lu, Sheng-Nan; (Shulin City,
TW) ; Hsu, Tien-Yueh; (Shulin City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NIKOLAI & MERSEREAU, P.A.
900 SECOND AVENUE SOUTH
SUITE 820
MINNEAPOLIS
MN
55402
US
|
Family ID: |
33564097 |
Appl. No.: |
10/601153 |
Filed: |
June 20, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
16/367 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E05Y 2900/606 20130101;
Y10T 16/5472 20150115; Y10S 248/917 20130101; Y10T 16/54028
20150115; E05D 3/10 20130101; G06F 1/162 20130101; Y10T 16/540256
20150115; G06F 1/1681 20130101; Y10T 16/551 20150115 |
Class at
Publication: |
016/367 |
International
Class: |
E05D 003/10 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A hinge assembly comprising: a fixing seat having: fixing plate
with a fixing hole defined in two distal ends of the fixing plate
for connection to a mainframe of an electronic device; a rotation
shaft securely connected to the fixing plate and having a limiting
flange formed on a mediate portion of the rotation shaft and
provided with two notches defined in an outer periphery of the
limiting flange; and a limiting disk composed of a first arcuate
portion and a second arcuate portion with an inner diameter the
same as that of the first arcuate portion and an outer diameter
larger than that of the first arcuate portion, the limiting disk
having two limiting legs integrally extending downward to be
received in the two notches of the limiting flange to position the
limiting disk on the rotation shaft; and a rotation seat having: a
body rotatably mounted on the rotation shaft and having two tubes
formed respectively on two opposite ends of the body, two
connection legs each rotatably received in a corresponding one of
the two tubes for connection to a monitor of the electronic device
and an extension extending downward from a bottom face of the body
to selectively engage with either one of the limiting edges of the
limiting disk to limit a rotation angle of the body to the fixing
plate; and leaf springs mounted on the rotation shaft and an
uppermost leaf being riveted to a distal end of the rotation shaft
to securely sandwich the body with the limiting disk.
2. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixing
plate has a first through hole centrally defined therein and having
two opposite cutouts defined in an inner face defining the first
through hole and the rotation shaft has two fixing feet formed on a
bottom face of the rotation shaft to correspond to and be received
in the two cutouts in the fixing plate to secure engagement between
the rotation shaft and the fixing plate.
3. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the limiting
disk has at least one boss formed on a top face of the limiting
disk and the body has a second through hole defined to allow
extension of the rotation shaft and provided with at least two
opposite position recesses to correspond to the at least one boss
so that when the at least one boss is received in one of the at
least two opposite position recesses, a temporary position effect
is provided to the rotation seat.
4. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the limiting
disk has at least one boss formed on a top face of the limiting
disk and the body has a second through hole defined to allow
extension of the rotation shaft and provided with at least two
opposite position recesses to correspond to the at least one boss
so that when the at least one boss is received in one of the at
least two opposite position recesses, a temporary position effect
is provided to the rotation seat.
5. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the
tubes has a limiting block and each of the connection legs has a
stop formed to correspond to the limiting block such that
rotational movement of the connection legs in relation to the tubes
are limited when the stop engages with the limiting block.
6. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of the
tubes has a limiting block and each of the connection legs has a
stop formed to correspond to the limiting block such that
rotational movement of the connection legs in relation to the tubes
is limited when the stop engages with the limiting block.
7. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of the
tubes has a limiting block and each of the connection legs has a
stop formed to correspond to the limiting block such that
rotational movement of the connection legs in relation to the tubes
is limited when the stop engages with the limiting block.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a hinge assembly, and more
particularly to a hinge assembly having a fixing seat and a
rotation seat which is able to rotate in both the longitudinal and
latitudinal directions with respect to the fixing seat.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Hinge devices have been used in many different structures to
combine two objects together and to allow one object to pivot or
rotate with respect to the other object. The existing hinge
assemblies provide the ability for one object to pivot relative to
the other object in only one direction. For example, the hinge used
in a laptop computer to combine the monitor and the mainframe can
only provide the monitor to pivot in the longitudinal direction in
relation to the mainframe. Another example is the hinge device used
in a camera. In a camera, the screen should be rotated freely to
enable the operator to have the best angle to shoot the scene.
However, with the conventional, the screen can only have
latitudinal direction rotation ability when referring to the
mainframe of the camera. Even though some manufacturers doprovide a
hinge device to provide one object to pivot relative to the other
object in both the latitudinal and longitudinal directions, because
there is no limitation to the rotation angle, structural damage is
inevitable.
[0005] To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to
provide an improved hinge assembly to mitigate the aforementioned
problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide
an improved hinge assembly having a fixing seat for fixing onto a
first object and a rotation seat for fixing onto a second object
which is pivotable to the first object. The rotation seat of the
hinge device is able to rotate in a latitudinal direction with
respect to the fixing seat. Also, two connection feet in the
rotation seat are able to rotate in a longitudinal direction
relative to the fixing seat such that a greater rotation angle is
acquired for the operator.
[0007] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a
positioning device between the fixing seat and the rotation seat so
that when the rotation seat is rotated with respect to the fixing
seat, the positioning device is able to provide a temporary
positioning effect to the rotation seat.
[0008] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge assembly
of the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled hinge assembly
of the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the
application of the hinge assembly of the present invention to a
laptop computer;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the application of the hinge
assembly in FIG. 3;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a schematic side plan view showing that the
monitor of the laptop computer is able to rotate in a latitudinal
direction with respect to the mainframe of the laptop computer;
and
[0014] FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing the
application of the hinge assembly of the present invention to a
camera.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0015] With reference to FIG. 1, it is noted that the hinge
assembly in accordance with the present invention is composed of a
fixing seat (1) and a rotation seat (2).
[0016] The fixing seat (1) includes an elongated fixing plate (11),
a rotation shaft (12) and a limiting disk (13).
[0017] The fixing plate (11) has two fixing holes (111)
respectively defined in a distal end of the fixing plate (11), a
first through hole (112) centrally defined in the fixing plate (11)
and two cutouts (113) oppositely defined in an inner face defining
the first through hole (112).
[0018] The rotation shaft (12) includes two fixing feet (121)
integrally formed on a bottom face of the rotation shaft (12) to
correspond to the two cutouts (113) in the first through hole (112)
of the fixing plate (11), a fixing flange (122) integrally formed
on a mediate portion of the rotation shaft (12) and provided with
two opposite notches (123) defined in an outer face of the fixing
flange (122).
[0019] The limiting disk (13) comprises two arcuate portions
(13a,13b) with the same inner diameter and different outer
diameter, wherein the outer diameter of the arcuate portion (13b)
is larger than that of the arcuate portion (13a). The limiting disk
(13) further has two L-shaped, downwardly extending limiting legs
(131) oppositely formed on a side face of the arcuate half (13a) to
correspond to the two notches (123) of the rotation shaft (12), two
limiting edges (132) formed on a joint between the two arcuate
portions (13a,13b) and at least two bosses (133).
[0020] The rotation seat (2) has a body (21) and leaf springs
(22).
[0021] The body (21) has two oppositely formed tubes (211) each
with a slit (212) to allow the tube (211) to be resilient, an
extension (213) extending downward to correspond to either one of
the two limiting edges (132) of the limiting disk (13), a second
through hole (214) defined between the two tubes (211) to
correspond to the rotation shaft (12) and having at least two
opposite position recesses (215) defined in an inner face defining
the second through hole (214) and two connection legs (216)
respectively received in a corresponding one of the two tubes
(211). It is noted that each tube (211) has a limiting block (2111)
formed on a distal edge of the tube (211) and the connection leg
(216) has a stop (2161) formed on an outer circumference of the
connection leg (216) to correspond to the limiting block
(2111).
[0022] With reference to FIG. 2 and still using FIG. 1 as a
reference, when the hinge assembly of the present invention is in
assembly, the two fixing feet (121) of the rotation shaft (12) are
inserted into the corresponding cutouts (113) in the first through
hole (112) of the fixing plate (11) to fix the rotation shaft (12)
on the fixing plate (11). Then the rotation shaft (12) is inserted
through the limiting disk (13), the second through hole (214) and
the leaf springs (22), wherein the limiting legs (131) of the
limiting disk (13) are inserted into the corresponding notches
(123) of the limiting flange (122) on the rotation shaft (12) to
position the limiting disk (13) on the rotation shaft (12).
Thereafter, the uppermost leaf spring (22) is riveted with a distal
end of the rotation shaft (12) to securely sandwich the body (21)
with the fixing plate (11).
[0023] After the assembly of the hinge assembly of the present
invention, it is to be noted that because each connection leg (216)
is inserted into the corresponding tube (211), the connection legs
(216) are rotatable with respect to the body (21). However, due to
the limiting block (2111) on the tube (211) and the stop (2161) on
the connection leg (216), the rotation angle of the connection leg
(216) is limited. Furthermore, because the rotation shaft (12)
simply extends through the second through hole (214) of the body
(21) and the body (21) is securely sandwiched between the leaf
springs (22) and the limiting disk (13) which is securely
positioned on the rotation shaft (12), the body (21) is rotatable
with respect to the fixing plate (11). However, due to the
provision of the extension (213) on the body (21) and the limiting
edges (132), while the body (21) is rotated, the extension (213)
will constantly engage with either one of the limiting edges (132)
so that the rotation angle of the body (21) relative to the fixing
plate (11) is limited.
[0024] With reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, when the hinge assembly
of the present invention is applied to a laptop computer (3) having
a monitor (31) and a mainframe (32), the rotation seat (2) is
connected to the monitor (31) via the connection legs ((216) and
the fixing seat (32) is connected to the mainframe (32) via the
fixing plate (111). Then the monitor (31) is able to rotate in a
latitudinal direction relative to the mainframe (32).
[0025] With reference to FIG. 6, when the hinge assembly of the
present invention is applied to a camera (4) having a mainframe
(41) and a screen (42), the rotation seat (2) is connected to the
mainframe (41) via the connection legs (216) and the fixing seat
(1) is connected to the screen (42) via the fixing plate (11). Then
the screen (42) is able to rotate in a longitudinal direction
relative to the mainframe (41).
[0026] In summary, no matter the rotation seat (2) is connected to
a monitor or a mainframe of an electronic device, the hinge
assembly of the present invention is able to provide rotation
ability to the monitor in both the latitudinal and longitudinal
directions with respect to the mainframe. Furthermore, in order to
protect the electronic device, the rotation angle of the monitor in
relation to the mainframe of the electronic device is limited via
the limiting block (2111) and the stop (2161) and the extension
(213) and the limiting edges (132).
[0027] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
* * * * *