CN113534891B

CN113534891B - Foldable electronic device

Info

Publication number: CN113534891B
Application number: CN202010308681.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 施文明; 董力; 邹林
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-04-18
Filing date: 2020-04-18
Publication date: 2024-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 2040-04-18
Also published as: CN113534891A

Abstract

The application provides foldable electronic equipment, which adopts a folding assembly consisting of a rotating shaft and a rotating arm to connect a first shell and a second shell, wherein a display screen covers the first shell, the folding assembly and the second shell and is fixed with the first shell and the second shell. The rotating arm is positioned on a tangent line of an outer cambered surface of the rotating shaft and is perpendicular to the axis direction of the rotating shaft, and the second shell is provided with a first sliding groove. The pivot arm slides relative to the second housing in the first chute during the folding and unfolding of the electronic device, ensuring that the display screen 40 is not excessively pulled and squeezed during the folding and unfolding. In addition, still include synchro mechanism, including the lever, the both ends of lever are connected with second casing and swinging boom respectively, realize the synchronous motion between folding subassembly and the second casing, and reduce the dependence to the flexible ability of display screen itself, further prolonged the life-span of display screen.

Description

Foldable electronic device

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of display, in particular to foldable electronic equipment.

Background

As flexible screen technology has matured, foldable electronic devices have been increasingly sought after by consumers due to their large screen and portability features. Because foldable electronic equipment needs to fold the screen for a long time and many times, if the flexible screen is folded and unfolded only by the ductility of the flexible screen, the flexible screen is easily subjected to excessive pulling and extrusion, so that the service life of the screen is shortened. Therefore, in order to prolong the service life of the flexible screen and ensure the reliability of the foldable electronic device, a special structure is generally designed at the folding part of the terminal device, so that the terminal device is not excessively pulled and extruded in the folding and unfolding processes. However, in the prior art, such a special structural design is relatively complex, and occupies a large amount of structural space, so that the terminal device becomes relatively thick and heavy, and it is difficult to satisfy the small, exquisite and light requirements of consumers on electronic products. In addition, the display screen covering the folding hinge is not always fixedly adhered to the folding hinge in order to avoid excessive stretching and extrusion in the folding process, so that the display screen in a folding area is easy to arch, namely, is separated from a supporting surface of the folding hinge, and the reliability is lacking, and the service life of the flexible screen is shortened.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a foldable electronic device which is used for saving the structural space of a folding part and avoiding arching of a screen.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a foldable electronic device comprising: the device comprises a first shell, a second shell, a folding assembly and a display screen; the folding assembly comprises a rotating shaft and a rotating arm, the rotating arm is located on a tangent line of an outer cambered surface of the rotating shaft and perpendicular to the axis direction of the rotating shaft, the folding assembly is used for connecting the first shell and the second shell, and specifically, the rotating arm is movably connected with the second shell by arranging the rotating shaft on the first shell to be rotationally connected with the first shell, namely, the second shell is provided with a first sliding groove, and the rotating arm can slide in the first sliding groove. The display screen covers the first shell, the folding assembly and the second shell and is fixed with the first shell and the second shell.

In the technical scheme, the bending area of the display screen covered on the folding assembly is not fixed, so that when the display screen is folded and unfolded, the relative sliding of the display screen and the surface of the folding assembly can be realized through the sliding of the rotating arm in the first sliding groove, and the sliding design between the folding assembly and the second shell can ensure that the display screen cannot be excessively pulled and extruded in the folding and unfolding process. Meanwhile, the folding assembly of the design is composed of only one shaft and one rotating arm, and no complex rotating shaft structure exists. Therefore, the folding function can be realized, the service life of the display screen can be guaranteed, a large amount of structural space can be saved, and the foldable electronic equipment is more compact and light and thin and meets the portable requirement of a user.

Further, since the nature of the arching problem is mainly due to the fact that there is no correspondence between the rotational distance of the folding assembly and the sliding distance of the second housing, i.e. the movement of the folding assembly is not synchronized with the movement of the second housing, a synchronizing mechanism can be added. The synchronous mechanism comprises a lever, a first end of the lever is connected with the second shell, and a second end of the lever is connected with the rotating arm.

In the technical scheme, through the lever principle, the second end of the rotating arm carries the second end of the lever to move in the first direction in the sliding groove, and then the first end of the lever pushes the second shell to slide in the second direction opposite to the first direction, so that synchronous movement between the folding assembly and the second shell is realized, namely, when the rotating arm rotates to the first position, the second shell necessarily slides to the second position corresponding to the first position, and arching is avoided. In addition, after the synchronization mechanism is added, the synchronization mechanism can actively drive the second shell to bend, fold and unfold, and the second shell is driven to move through flexible stretching and extrusion force of the display screen when the synchronization mechanism is not needed, so that dependence on flexible expansion capacity of the display screen can be reduced, stress of the display screen is relieved, service life of the display screen is further prolonged, and reliability of the electronic equipment is enhanced.

In one embodiment, the synchronizing mechanism includes a driving member and a lever, the driving member being disposed on the folding assembly; one end of the driving piece is fixedly connected with the first shell or the rotating shaft, and the other end of the driving piece is rotationally connected with the lever to form a rotating center; the first end of the lever is connected with the second shell, and the second end of the lever is connected with the rotating arm; the length between the rotation center and the second end of the lever is a first length, the length between the first end of the lever and the second end of the lever is a second length, and a first ratio is arranged between the first length and the second length. Under this structure, when the electronic device is folded or unfolded, the driving member slides relatively to the surface of the folding member along with the rotation of the folding member, and the rotation center of the lever slides along with the driving member, so that the first end of the lever swings along with the sliding of the rotation center to push the sliding of the second housing, and the rotation distance of the folding member and the sliding distance of the second housing conform to a first proportion, thereby realizing synchronization.

In the above technical scheme, the movement distance of the rotating arm can be amplified according to the first proportion through the lever so as to maintain the corresponding relation between the movement distance of the second shell and the movement distance of the folding assembly, thereby realizing synchronous movement between the folding assembly and the second shell.

In a specific embodiment, the electronic device further comprises a functional circuit disposed within the first housing. Functional circuitry is understood to mean all active components and circuitry of the electronic device except for the display screen, and the second housing contains no other active components except for the portion of the display screen.

In the above technical scheme, the active components are concentrated in the first shell, so that the folding assembly does not need to be subjected to shaft threading, shaft cooling and the like, the influence of the folding process on the functional circuit on the folding assembly is avoided, and the reliability of the electronic equipment is further improved.

In a specific embodiment, the rotary arm comprises at least one projection, and the second housing is provided with at least one first slide groove cooperating with the at least one projection for accommodating the at least one projection of the rotary arm.

In the above technical solution, the rotating arm is not a complete planar design, but a finger-like structure design including a plurality of protruding portions is adopted, so that the contact surface with the second housing is increased, and the sliding stability between the rotating arm and the second housing is increased.

In a specific embodiment, the area of the display screen covering the folding assembly is a bending area, and the foldable electronic device further comprises a bending support member, wherein the bending support member is arranged between the display screen and the folding assembly and is fixed with the bending area of the display screen, and when the display screen slides relative to the surface of the folding assembly, the bending support member is actually in contact with the surface of the folding assembly. Specifically, the bending support piece is made of a flexible and rigid material, so that the bending support piece can be bent along with the display screen, and a certain protection and support effect can be achieved.

In the technical scheme, the bending support piece plays a role in further supporting and protecting the display screen, so that the display screen is prevented from being in direct friction contact with other parts of the electronic equipment such as the folding assembly and the second shell, and the reliability of the flexible screen is guaranteed.

In a specific embodiment, since the bending area is not fixed with the folding component, the bending area and the folding component are not attached to each other easily due to relative sliding, and therefore the foldable electronic device is further provided with a driving mechanism, the driving mechanism is arranged between the first sliding chute and the rotating arm and is used for driving the second shell to move in a first direction to stretch the display screen, wherein the first direction is a direction away from the rotating shaft, and the first direction can also be understood as a direction for pushing the second shell to slide outwards along the first sliding chute; in practice the drive mechanism may also drive the folding assembly to move in a second direction to stretch the display screen, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction. In general, the drive mechanism is to drive the folding assembly and the first housing away from the second housing to stretch the display.

In the technical scheme, the driving mechanism can provide continuous driving force for the second shell and the rotating arm, and the driving force can enable the second shell and the rotating arm to be far away from to stretch the display screen, so that the display screen can still keep a state of being flatly clung to the folding assembly in the rotating process, and the screen unreliable caused by arching of the bending area is avoided.

In a specific embodiment, the driving mechanism may be an elastic member, and two ends of the elastic member are respectively in pressing contact with the first sliding groove and the rotating arm.

In a specific embodiment, the second housing includes a first receiving space in which the first end of the lever is disposed; the first end of the lever swings in the first accommodation space with the sliding of the rotation center.

In a specific embodiment, the rotary arm comprises a boss comprising a second receiving space in which the second end of the lever is disposed; the second end of the lever swings in the second accommodation space with the sliding of the rotation center.

In one embodiment, the second housing includes a first oblong hole through which the first end of the lever is coupled to the second housing by a first pin.

In one embodiment, the second housing includes a second oblong hole through which the second end of the lever is coupled to the second housing by a second pin.

In the above technical solution, the connection mode of the accommodation space and the connection mode of the oblong hole and the pin are both for satisfying the swinging path of the lever, because the simple fixed connection cannot satisfy the swinging motion of the lever which is required to rotate and has the displacement in the up-down direction, a reasonable accommodation space needs to be provided for satisfying the swinging path of the lever, or the lever can rotate and have the displacement which slides up and down in the oblong hole by adopting the way of the oblong hole and the pin.

In a specific embodiment, the electronic device further comprises a constraint mechanism for limiting the bending support member away from the surface of the folding assembly, so as to ensure the reliability of the display screen.

In a specific embodiment, the restraint mechanism comprises a first hook and a second hook, and the first hook and the second hook are fixed on two sides of the bending support; the rotating shaft is provided with a first arc channel for accommodating the first hook and the second hook.

In a specific embodiment, the rotating arm is provided with a second chute; the constraint mechanism comprises a constraint bar, the constraint bar penetrates through the second sliding groove to be fixedly connected with the bending support piece, and a second circular arc channel for accommodating the constraint bar is arranged on the rotating shaft.

In one embodiment, the restraint mechanism includes a first magnet and a second magnet, the first magnet and the second magnet being positioned between the fold support and the fold assembly; the first magnet is fixed with the bending support structure, and the second magnet is fixed with the folding assembly; the first magnet and the second magnet have different magnetic poles on opposite sides.

In a second aspect, the present application provides another foldable electronic device, including a first housing, a second housing, a folding assembly, and a display screen; the folding assembly comprises a rotating shaft and a rotating arm, the rotating arm is located on a tangent line of an outer cambered surface of the rotating shaft and perpendicular to the axis direction of the rotating shaft, the folding assembly is used for connecting a first shell and a second shell, the first shell is provided with a first sliding groove, the rotating shaft is arranged in the first sliding groove and rotates and slides in the first sliding groove, and the second shell is fixedly connected with the rotating arm. The display screen covers on first casing, folding subassembly and second casing, and the display screen is fixed with first casing, second casing.

In the technical scheme, the bending area of the display screen covered on the folding component is not fixed, so that when the display screen is folded and unfolded, the display screen and the surface of the folding component can slide relatively through the rotation and the sliding of the rotating shaft in the first sliding groove, and the sliding design between the folding component and the first shell can ensure that the display screen cannot be excessively pulled and extruded in the folding and unfolding processes. At the same time, the design has no complex rotating shaft structure. Therefore, the folding function can be realized, the service life of the display screen can be guaranteed, a large amount of structural space can be saved, and the foldable electronic equipment is more compact and light and thin and meets the portable requirement of a user.

In a specific embodiment, since the bending area is not fixed to the folding component, the folding component is easy to be not attached to the folding component due to relative sliding, and therefore the foldable electronic device is further provided with a driving mechanism, the driving mechanism is arranged between the first sliding groove and the rotating shaft and is used for driving the folding component to move in a first direction to stretch the display screen, and the first direction is a direction away from the first shell. In practice, the driving mechanism may also drive the first housing to move in a second direction to stretch the display screen, where the second direction is opposite to the first direction. In general, the drive mechanism is to move the first housing away from the second housing and the folding assembly to stretch the display screen.

In the technical scheme, the driving mechanism can provide continuous driving force for the first shell and the rotating shaft, and the driving force can enable the first shell and the rotating shaft to be far away from each other so as to stretch the display screen, so that the display screen can still keep a state of being flatly clung to the folding assembly in the rotating process, and the screen unreliable caused by arching of the bending area is avoided.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an unfolded state of a foldable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of a foldable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic sectional view of an unfolded state of a foldable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 4 is a schematic sectional view of another unfolded state of the foldable electronic device according to the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5a is a schematic top view of a rotary arm design according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5b is a schematic top view of another rotary arm design according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another rotary arm design according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic top view of another rotary arm design according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another rotary arm design according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a section B-B of the rotary arm design of FIG. 6 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic sectional view of an intermediate state of a foldable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 11 is a schematic sectional view of a folded state of a foldable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 12a is a schematic cross-sectional view of a foldable electronic device with a bending support according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12b is a schematic cross-sectional view of another foldable electronic device with a bending support according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13a is a schematic view of a bending support according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13b is a schematic view of another bending support according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a partial perspective view of a foldable electronic device having a bending support provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 15 is a schematic side view of a restraint mechanism provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16a is a schematic top view of another restraint mechanism provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16b is a schematic side view of another restraint mechanism shown in FIG. 16a in accordance with an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 17 is a schematic side view of another restraint mechanism provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 18a is a schematic sectional view of an unfolded state of a foldable electronic device with a driving mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 18b is a schematic view of a foldable electronic device with a driving mechanism in an intermediate state according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 19 is a schematic top view of a synchronization mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 20 is a schematic sectional view of another foldable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 21 is a schematic sectional view of another foldable electronic device with a driving mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical scheme of the application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The foldable electronic device in the embodiment of the present application may be understood as an electronic device having a foldable display screen. For example, a foldable mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, etc., and the embodiment of the application does not limit the specific form of the foldable electronic device. The foldable display screen has the characteristics of flexibility and foldability, can be folded and bent at will, is light and thin in texture, and can display images after being connected with circuit signals. In a specific implementation, the display screen of the electronic device of the present application may be a flexible screen.

The overall structure of the foldable electronic device will be first exemplarily described with reference to fig. 1 to 4. The foldable electronic device according to the embodiment of the present application includes a first housing 10, a second housing 20, a folding assembly 30, and a display screen 40.

The folding assembly 30 includes a rotating shaft 301 and a rotating arm 302, the rotating arm 302 is located on a tangent line of an outer arc surface of the rotating shaft 301 and is perpendicular to an axial direction of the rotating shaft 301, the outer arc surface of the rotating shaft 301 and a plane of the rotating arm 302 are in smooth transition, and the axial direction of the rotating shaft 301 is an o-o direction shown in fig. 1. The rotating shaft 301 is disposed on the first housing 10 and is rotatably connected with the first housing 10, the second housing 20 is provided with a first chute 201, the first chute 201 is used for accommodating a rotating arm 302, and the rotating arm 302 can slide in the first chute 201.

For the connection between the rotating shaft 301 and the first housing 10, in one possible implementation manner, the rotating shaft 301 and the first housing 10 may be connected through a cylindrical pin, that is, the connecting portion between the rotating shaft 301 and the first housing 10 is inserted into the axis of the rotating shaft 301 and the connecting portion between the first housing 10 and the rotating shaft 301 through the pin, and meanwhile, the rotating shaft 301 may rotate around the pin, so as to realize the rotation of the rotating shaft 301 relative to the first housing 10. In this implementation, the portion of the first housing 10 that is attached to the rotating shaft 301 may be configured to match the outer arc surface of the rotating shaft 301, for example, to form an arc-shaped groove that accommodates the rotating shaft 301, so that the rotating shaft 301 is embedded in the first housing 10. In another possible implementation, the connection portion between the first housing 10 and the rotating shaft 301 may be designed as a cylindrical sleeve, and the rotating shaft 301 is inserted into the sleeve to implement connection between the rotating shaft 301 and the first housing 10, and at the same time, the rotating shaft 301 may rotate in the sleeve to implement rotation of the rotating shaft 301 relative to the first housing 10.

Further, the rotating shaft 301 and the rotating arm 302 may be two separate units, and the folding assembly 30 may be formed by fixedly connecting the rotating shaft 301 and the rotating arm 302, and the rotating shaft 301 and the rotating arm 302 cannot move relatively. The rotation shaft 301 and the rotation arm 302 may be integrally formed. It will be appreciated that since the shaft 301 and the swivel arm 302 are fixedly connected or integral, the folding assembly 30 will rotate together as a whole when any portion of the folding assembly 30 is rotated about the axis o-o by force.

The display screen 40 covers the first housing 10, the folder assembly 30, and the second housing 20. The display screen 40 is fixed to the first casing 10 and the second casing 20, and the display screen 40 is not fixed to the folding assembly 30. It should be appreciated that the display 40 is integral to the first housing 10, the folding assembly 30 and the second housing 20. In the embodiment of the present application, the display screen 40, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 may be fixed by an adhesive bonding manner, and may be further fixed by a screw, a nut, or welding, which is not limited herein. For convenience of the following description, the surfaces of the first housing 10, the folder assembly 30, and the second housing 20 covered with the display screen 40 are all referred to as a first surface, and the surface opposite to the first surface is referred to as a second surface.

During folding or unfolding of the electronic device, there will be a user force acting on the electronic device, at which point the display 40 and the first surface of the folding assembly 30 will slide relative to each other due to the force. It will be appreciated that during folding or unfolding, the area of the display 40 that is fixed to the first and second housings 10, 20 will remain in a flattened state and will not bend, and in fact, the area that will bend and slide relative to the folding assembly 30 will be the area of the display 40 that covers the folding assembly 30, which in the embodiment of the present application will be designated as bending area 401.

There are various implementations of the embodiment of the present application with respect to the positional relationship between the second housing 20 and the rotating arm 302, which will be described in detail below.

In a first implementation, as shown in fig. 2, the rotating arm 302 may be a complete plane, and two sides of the first sliding slot 201 contact two sides of the rotating arm 302, so that the rotating arm 302 may slide in the first sliding slot 201. Specifically, two sides of the first chute 201 may be provided with sliding rails that are matched with the rotating arm 302, and two sides of the rotating arm 302 are embedded in the sliding rails. Similarly, protrusions matched with the sliding rails can be arranged on two sides of the rotating arm 302, and then the protrusions on two sides of the rotating arm 302 are embedded into the sliding rails. This ensures that the rotary arm 302 and the second housing 20 can slide relative to each other and remain fixed relative to each other without being displaced by force.

Note that, the first chute 201 shown in fig. 2 is an upwardly open chute, and in this case, referring to a sectional view of the electronic device in the z direction shown in fig. 4, the surface of the rotating arm 302 may be on the same plane as the first surface of the second housing 20. It should be understood that referring to the sectional view of the electronic device in the z-direction shown in fig. 3, the first chute 201 may also be a chute that is closed at the top. In this implementation, the surface of the second housing 20 may be slightly higher than the rotating arm 302, so that a partial area of the display screen 40 may not be sufficiently adhered to the rotating arm 302. At this time, a filling material fixed to the display screen 40 may be disposed in the non-bonding region to ensure that the display screen 40 is supported and kept flat. Accordingly, the rotating shaft 301 may be correspondingly provided with a space for accommodating the filling material, so that the display screen 40 can be kept flat when the display screen 40 slides relative to the surface of the folding assembly 30.

In a second implementation, referring to fig. 5 a-8, the rotating arm 302 may comprise at least one protrusion 3021, the second housing 20 being provided with a plurality of first sliding grooves 201 cooperating with the at least one protrusion 3021 for accommodating the at least one protrusion 3021 of the rotating arm 302. It should be noted that the projection and the slide groove cooperating with the projection are a set of opposite concepts, that is, the implementation may actually be put in other words, at least one projection is provided on the second housing 20, and the rotating arm 302 is provided with at least one slide groove cooperating with the projection of the second housing 20 for accommodating, that is, a plurality of projections on the second housing 20.

Specifically, referring to fig. 5a, at least one protrusion 3021 of the rotation arm 302 may be directly connected to the rotation shaft 301; referring to fig. 5b, the rotating arm 302 may also include at least one protruding portion 3021 and a platform portion 3022, the platform portion 3022 being connected to the rotating shaft 301, the at least one protruding portion 3021 extending from the platform portion 3022. It can be seen that, in practice, the design of the protruding portion 3021 of the rotating arm 302 may have various manners, and the lengths and widths of the plurality of protruding portions 3021 may also be different, but correspondingly, the width and length of the first sliding groove 201 corresponding to the protruding portion 3021 need to be corresponding to the requirement that the protruding portion 3021 is accommodated to slide in the first sliding groove 201.

In the embodiment of the present application, the protruding portion 3021 and the first chute 201 may be in a one-to-one relationship, or may be in a many-to-one relationship, for example, in the electronic device shown in fig. 6, the protruding portion 3021 and the first chute 201 are in a one-to-one correspondence; in the schematic plan view shown in fig. 7, two protrusions 3021 correspond to one first chute 201, and one protrusion 3021 corresponds to one first chute 201, including both a many-to-one and one-to-one relationship.

Further, when the rotation arm 302 includes a plurality of protrusions 3021, the plurality of protrusions 3021 may be disposed in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction of the rotation arm 302. For example, the plurality of protruding portions 3021 of the rotating arm 302 shown in fig. 5a to 7 are disposed in the horizontal direction, and in the sectional view in the direction shown in fig. 8, the plurality of protruding portions 3021 are disposed in the vertical direction, and specifically include an upper protruding portion 3021 and a lower protruding portion 3021 disposed in parallel in the vertical direction, and an upper sliding groove 201 and a lower sliding groove 201 respectively matching the two protruding portions 3021. It will be appreciated that, similar to the implementation of fig. 3, in the implementation of fig. 8, the surface of the rotating arm 302 may be slightly higher than the second housing 20, resulting in a partial area of the display screen 40 not being sufficiently adhered to the second housing 20. At this time, a filler material fixed to the display screen 40 may be provided in the region to ensure that the display screen 40 is supported and kept flat. It is understood that the manner in which each protruding portion 3021 of the rotating arm 302 is in contact with and slides along the corresponding first sliding slot 201 is consistent with the principle of the first implementation shown in fig. 2, and thus will not be described in detail. It can be seen that in the second implementation, since the contact sliding is required between the plurality of protrusions 3021 and the plurality of first sliding grooves 302, the connection between the rotation arm 302 and the second housing 20 is more stable, so that the overall stability of the electronic apparatus is enhanced.

It will be appreciated that in the implementation scenario of the plurality of protrusions 3021 and the plurality of first runners 201 as shown in fig. 5B and 6, etc., the z-direction cross-sectional view of the A-A cross-section is different from the z-direction cross-sectional view of the B-B cross-section, and reference may be made to fig. 4 and to fig. 9.

As can be seen from the above description, there may be various positional relationships between the second housing 20 and the rotating arm 302, and the principle is basically consistent. Hereinafter, therefore, the implementation of fig. 2 and 4 and the case of section A-A will be mainly described as examples, without specific distinction.

In use, the electronic device may morphologically comprise an expanded state, a collapsed state, and an intermediate state. The intermediate state is understood to be a folded state when transitioning between the unfolded state and the folded state. It should be understood that the user may hold the first housing 10 stationary, the second housing 20 folded and unfolded with respect to the first housing 10, the second housing 20 stationary, the first housing 10 folded and unfolded with respect to the second housing 20, and the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 folded and unfolded together when operating the electronic device. The folding principle of any of the above operations is substantially identical, and the unfolding and folding are a set of operations corresponding to each other, so the embodiment of the present application exemplifies the folding principle of the electronic device by taking the case that the first casing 10 is kept still and the second casing 20 is folded with respect to the first casing 10 as an example. The folding principle of the electronic device is described below in connection with fig. 4, 10 and 11.

Fig. 4 shows an expanded state of the electronic device, in which the first casing 10 and the second casing 20 are expanded relatively, and the display screen 40 is expanded on the same plane without bending. In the unfolded state, the rotating arm 302 may have a part in the first chute 201, or may be docked with the first chute 201 but not slid in; the bending area 401 of the display screen 40 is supported by a portion of the rotating shaft 301 and a portion of the rotating arm 302 not disposed in the first chute 201. When the second housing 20 is folded by the force, the folding assembly 30 is rotated together about the axis o-o by a certain angle, thereby transitioning from the unfolded state to the intermediate state, which is illustrated in fig. 10. At this time, the supporting portion of the rotating shaft 301 to the bending region 401 will be increased, and the length of the bending region 401 is relatively fixed, so that the supporting portion of the rotating arm 302 to the bending region 401 will be correspondingly reduced, and therefore, during the bending process, due to the folding force, the second housing 20 and the rotating arm 302 will relatively slide through the first channel 201, and a portion of the rotating arm 302 will newly slide into the first channel 201 due to the flexible driving of the bending region 401. For example, as shown in fig. 10, where the rotation angle of the second housing 20 with respect to the first housing 10 is θ, and R is the radius of the extrados of the rotation shaft 301, the rotation shaft 301 uses a portion of the newly added length lc=pi r×θ/180 ° for further supporting the bending region 401; correspondingly, the rotating arm 302 also slides into the first chute 201 with a portion of the newly increased LC length. Corresponding to the sliding of the rotating arm 302, the second housing 20 is continuously slid to wrap the surface of the rotating shaft 301 due to the bending area 401, so that the rotating arm 302 is continuously slid to be close to the rotating shaft 301 under the flexible driving of the display screen 40, and the sliding process is that the rotating arm 302 slides in the first sliding groove 201. It can be appreciated that, during the unfolding process, the relative sliding relationship among the rotating shaft 301, the rotating arm 302, the first sliding groove 201 and the bending region 401 is opposite to the folding process described above, and thus will not be described again. Fig. 11 shows a folded state of the electronic device, in which the first casing 10 and the second casing 20 are stacked opposite to each other, and the display 40 is folded along with the folding assembly 30. In the folded state, the rotating arm 302 is completely disposed in the first chute 201, and the bending area 401 of the display screen 40 is wrapped on the surface of the rotating shaft 301. Optionally, in order to maintain the flatness of the electronic device in the folded state, the second surface of the first housing 10 may be provided with a groove for accommodating the second housing 20, so that the first surface of the second housing 20 and the second surface of the first housing 10 are located on the same surface, thereby ensuring the aesthetic appearance of the electronic device.

It can be appreciated that, in the embodiment of the present application, the length of the first chute 201 should be set to ensure that the rotating arm 302 is completely disposed in the first chute 201, and the bending area 401 should be slightly larger than half of the circumference of the outer arc surface of the rotating shaft 301 according to the thickness of the display screen 40, so that the bending area 401 can be wrapped on the folding assembly 30 without being pulled in the folded state, and meanwhile, a better fit degree between the bending area 401 and the folding assembly 30 can be ensured. The extrados refers to the surface of the rotating shaft 301 that is attached to the display 40.

As can be seen from the above description, first, in the embodiment of the present application, the bending area 401 of the display screen 40 can relatively slide with the surface of the folding assembly 30, and the folding assembly 30 converts the rotation distance of the rotating shaft 301 into the sliding distance of the rotating arm 302 in the first sliding groove 201, so that the distance between the second housing 20 and the rotating shaft 301 can be telescopically changed through the first sliding groove 201, which ensures that the display screen 40 will not be excessively pulled and extruded due to such telescopic relatively sliding design during the folding and unfolding process. Meanwhile, the design only uses a single rotating shaft and a single rotating arm to form a folding assembly, so that no complex rotating shaft structure exists. Therefore, the folding function can be realized, the service life of the display screen can be guaranteed, a large amount of structural space can be saved, and the foldable electronic equipment is more compact and light and thin and meets the portable requirement of a user.

Further, the electronic device in the embodiment of the present application further includes a functional circuit, and the functional circuit is disposed in the first housing 10. Functional circuitry is understood to mean all active components and circuitry of the electronic device except for the display 40, which may include, for example, such a motherboard, a chip, a battery, a sensor, a camera, heat dissipation firmware, connection lines between devices, etc. That is, the electronic device in the embodiment of the present application concentrates the functional circuits except for the display 40 in the first housing 10, and the second housing 20 contains no active components except for the portion of the display 40. It can be seen that the active components are concentrated in the first housing 10, so that the folding assembly 30 does not need to perform axial threading, axial heat dissipation and the like, and the influence of the folding process on the functional circuit on the folding assembly 30 is avoided, thereby further improving the reliability of the electronic device.

In some embodiments, the second housing 20 may be plural, for example, the first housing 10 may be connected to the second housing 20 on multiple sides, and for example, the first housing 10 may be connected to plural second housings 20 on one side at the same time. The connection relationship and folding principle between the first housing 10 and each of the second housings 20 are identical to those of the above-described embodiments, and thus are not described in detail herein. In this case, the number of the folding assemblies 30 corresponds to that of the second housing 20. It can be seen that such a design can expand the area of the display 40 in the unfolded state, and at the same time, can reduce the area of the electronic device in the folded state, and can provide a user with a larger screen experience and a smaller portable feel based on a simple and light folding structure design.

Further, as shown in fig. 12a, a bending support 50 may be added between the bending area 401 of the display screen 40 and the folding assembly 30, and the bending support 50 may be fixed to the bending area 401 of the display screen 40 by gluing, etc., which is not limited herein. Bending support 50 is typically made of a material that has both a certain rigid support capacity and a certain flexible bending capacity. Since the bending support 50 is fixedly attached to the bending region 401 of the display 40, the bending support 50 and the bending region 401 will slide along the surface of the folding assembly 30 during folding or unfolding of the electronic device. It can be seen that when the bending support 50 can slide relative to the folding assembly 30, the bending area 401 does not directly rub against the surface of the folding assembly 30, but rather, the bending support 50 can slide relative to the surface of the folding assembly 30, so that the display screen 40 is prevented from being damaged by friction, the service life of the display screen is further prolonged, and the reliability of the electronic device is ensured. Further, since the bending support 50 has both rigidity and flexibility, the bending support 50 can improve the rigidity and impact resistance of the bending region 401, provide support for the bending region 401, and ensure that the bending performance of the bending region 401 of the display screen 40 still meets the requirement of folding.

In one possible implementation, bending support 50 may be a thin plate of metallic or non-metallic material. Further, the sheet may also be in a hollowed-out design, and fig. 13a shows a sheet with a hollowed-out design, but is not limited to the design of fig. 13 a. The hollowed-out design can reduce bending stress in the bending process, namely, disperse and weaken acting force on the display screen 40 during folding, so that the display screen 40 is protected. In addition, the thin plate with the hollowed-out design can have a certain thickness when meeting the bending requirement, and can weaken the acting force on the display screen 40, so that the display screen 40 is prevented from being damaged due to overlarge acting force; accordingly, in order to ensure the flatness of the display screen 40, the thickness of the second housing 20 can be adaptively increased, so that the support of the second housing 20 to the display screen 40 is enhanced, and the reliability of the electronic device is improved.

In another possible implementation, bending support 50 may be a bar array structure comprising a plurality of bars spaced apart, one bar array structure is shown in fig. 13b, but is not limited to the design of fig. 13b, e.g., the edges of the bars may be interconnected. The strip array structure can be made of metal, glass, ceramic or plastic and the like. Similar to the hollowed-out thin plate, the strip array structure can reduce bending stress, meet bending requirements and have a certain thickness, so that the display screen 40 can be protected and the support of the second shell 20 on the display screen 40 can be enhanced.

In yet another possible implementation, bending support 50 may be a combination of a sheet and strip array structure. In one possible implementation, the sheet may be placed over the array of bars, i.e., the bending region 401 is secured to the sheet, which in turn is secured to the array of bars. It will be readily appreciated that the sheet and bar array structures have similar properties and functions, and therefore the thickness of the combined bending support 50 may be greater, thereby protecting the display 40 to a greater extent and enhancing the support of the display 40 by the second housing 20. In addition, since the sheet is a plane, fixing the sheet to the bending region 401 can make the bending region 401 smoother.

It should be understood that, in addition to the bending region 401 of the display screen 40, the bending support 50 may be disposed in other regions of the display screen 40, as shown in fig. 12b and 14, between the display screen 40 and the first housing 10, and between the display screen 40 and the second housing 20, the bending support 50 may be disposed between the display screen 40 and the second housing 20, so as to support the entire display screen 40, and may keep the display screen 40 flat and fit. It should also be understood that different regions of the display 40 may be provided with different structures of the bending support 50, for example, the bending support 50 with the bending region 401 may be a combination of a thin plate and a strip array structure, and the bending support 50 in other regions may be a thin plate, which is not limited by the present application.

It should be appreciated that during folding and unfolding of the electronic device, the relative sliding between the bending region 401 of the display 40 and the folding assembly 30 tends to cause a non-conforming between the bending region 401 and the folding assembly 30, affecting the usability and aesthetics. For example, when the second housing 20 is unfolded, the bending region 401 is subjected to an upward force, which easily causes the bending region 401 to be away from the first surface of the folding assembly 30; arching occurs when the second housing 20 is folded and the bending region 401 receives a large pressing force. Therefore, a restraining mechanism may be further disposed on the bending support 50, so as to limit the surface of the bending support 50 away from the folding assembly 30, so as to limit the fitting degree during the relative sliding between the bending support 50 and the folding assembly 30, that is, limit the fitting degree between the bending region 401 and the folding assembly 30.

As shown in fig. 15, which is a side view of the electronic device from the x-direction, in one possible implementation, the constraining mechanism may include a first hook 601 and a second hook 602, the first hook 601 and the second hook 602 being fixed to two sides of the bending support 50, respectively, and the hook ends of the first hook 601 and the second hook 602 being bendable toward the second surface of the folding assembly 30. Correspondingly, the rotating shaft 301 is provided with a first arc channel for accommodating the first hook 601 and the second hook 602. If the bending support 50 is moved away from the first surface of the folding assembly 30 by an upward force as the bending support 50 slides relatively along the surface of the folding assembly 30, the first hook 601 and the second hook 602 will move upward with the bending support 50 until the hook end hooks the rotating arm 302, at which time the bending support 50 will stop moving upward and even be pulled back onto the folding assembly 30 due to the blocking of the rotating arm 302. The first circular arc channel is used for matching the sliding of the first hook 601 and the second hook 602 between the two sides of the rotating arm 302 and the two sides of the rotating shaft 301, and limiting the bending support piece 50 to be far away from the surface of the rotating shaft 301. It will be appreciated that the distance between the bending support 50 and the folding assembly 30 does not exceed the distance between the hook ends of the first hook 601 and the second hook 602 and the second surface of the folding assembly 30, and therefore, the distance between the hook ends of the first hook 601 and the second hook 602 and the second surface of the folding assembly 30 needs to be reasonably set, so that the first hook 601 and the second hook 602 can ensure the fitting degree of the bending support 50 and the folding assembly 30, and avoid excessively restricting the movement of the bending support 50 to cause the bending region 401 of the display screen 40 to be excessively pulled.

It should be appreciated that during folding, the first hook 601 and the second hook 602 gradually slide along with the bending support 50 from both sides of the rotating arm 302 to both sides of the rotating shaft 301, but at this time, the portion of the bending support 50 still on the rotating arm 302 may still move upward, and vice versa. Thus, the constraining mechanism may comprise a plurality of sets of hooks, each set comprising a first hook 601 and a second hook 602, distributed on both sides of the folding support 50 to ensure that, at each stage of the folding process, the folding region 401 is constrained by the first hook 601 and the second hook 602, maintaining a close fit with the folding assembly 30. Meanwhile, a certain interval exists between the hooks of the plurality of groups, so that when the hooks of the plurality of groups slide into the first arc channel of the rotating shaft 301, the bending area 401 is not uneven due to mutual extrusion.

As shown in fig. 16a and 16b, in another possible implementation, the rotating arm 302 is provided with a second chute 3020, and the constraint mechanism may include a constraint bar 611. Fig. 16a shows a top view of the electronic device, and fig. 16b shows a side view of the electronic device from the x-direction, it can be seen that one end of the restraint bar 611 is fixedly connected to the bending support 50 through the second chute 3020, and the other end of the restraint bar 611 is located on the second surface of the folding assembly 30, and the width is larger than the width of the second chute 3020. A second circular arc channel for accommodating the restraint bar 611 is provided at a position corresponding to the second chute 3020 of the rotating shaft 301, so as to match the sliding of the restraint bar 611 between the rotating arm 302 and the rotating shaft 301. Similar to the principle of the hook described above, since the width of the constraint bar 611 is greater than the width of the second chute 3020, the constraint bar 611 may be blocked by the rotation arm 302 or the second circular arc channel when the connection bending support 50 moves upward, so as to limit the upward movement of the connection bending support 50 and ensure the flatness of the display screen 40. During the folding process, the restraint bar 611 gradually slides from the rotating arm 302 to the rotating shaft 301 along the second chute 3020; correspondingly, during the unfolding process, the restraint bar 611 gradually slides along the second chute 3020 from the rotation shaft 301 to the rotation arm 302. It will be appreciated that the distance between the bending support 50 and the folding assembly 30 does not exceed the distance between the constraining strip 611 and the folding assembly 30, and therefore, the distance between the constraining strip 611 and the second surface of the folding assembly 30 needs to be reasonably set, so that the constraining strip 611 can ensure the fitting degree of the bending support 50 and the folding assembly 30, and avoid excessive pulling of the display screen 40 caused by excessively limiting the movement of the bending support 50.

It should be appreciated that the restraint mechanism may also include a plurality of restraint bars 611 distributed over the second chute 3020; the rotating arm 302 may also be provided with a plurality of second sliding grooves 3020, and the corresponding rotating shaft 301 may also be provided with a plurality of second circular arc grooves corresponding to the second sliding grooves 3020, where each second sliding groove 3020 may also correspond to a plurality of constraint bars 611. To ensure that at each stage of the folding process, the bending support 50 is constrained by the constraint bars 611 to maintain a close fit with the folding assembly 30. Meanwhile, a certain interval exists between the plurality of constraint strips 611, so that when the plurality of constraint strips 611 slide to the second circular arc channel of the rotating shaft 301, the bending region 401 is not uneven due to mutual extrusion.

As shown in fig. 17, which is a side view of the electronic device from the x-direction, in yet another possible implementation, the constraining mechanism may include a first magnet 621 and a second magnet 622, the first magnet 621 and the second magnet 622 being located between the bending support 50 and the folding assembly 30. Wherein, the first magnet 621 is fixed with the bending support 50, the second magnet 622 is fixed with the folding assembly 30, and the magnetic poles of two opposite sides of the first magnet 621 and the second magnet 622 are different. It will be appreciated that the first and second magnets 621, 622 are attracted to each other due to the different poles, thereby ensuring a snug fit between the folding assembly 30 and the folding support 50. The first magnet 621 and the second magnet 622 may be objects having magnetic materials such as magnetic strips, magnetic sheets, and the like.

Further, the constraining mechanism may also include a plurality of first magnets 621 and a plurality of second magnets 622. For example, when the areas of the opposite sides of the first and second magnets 621, 622 are small, several first and second magnets 621, 622 may be provided between the bending support 50 and the folding assembly 30 to ensure that the bending support 50 is constrained by the first and second magnets 621, 622 to maintain a close fit with the folding assembly 30 at each stage of the folding process.

It will be appreciated that the constraint mechanisms in the above several possible implementations may be combined with each other, and the combined implementation principle is consistent with the above description, so that a detailed description is omitted.

As described above, since the relative sliding between the bending region 401 and the folding assembly 30 easily causes the bending region 401 to be not attached, thereby causing the display screen 40 to arch, the electronic device may further include a driving mechanism for driving the rotating arm 302 and the second housing 20 away from each other to stretch the bending region 401 of the display screen 40. Thereby keeping the bending region 401 flat and avoiding the occurrence of the arching phenomenon.

As shown in fig. 18a and 18b, in one possible implementation, the driving mechanism may include an elastic member 701, where the elastic member 701 may be disposed between the first sliding slot 201 and the rotating arm 302, and two ends of the elastic member 701 are respectively in pressing contact with the first sliding slot 201 and the rotating arm 301. In the case that the rotating arm 302 presses the elastic member 701, the elastic force generated by the elastic member 701 may provide a tensile force to stretch the bending region 401 of the display screen 40. During folding or unfolding, the end of the rotating arm 302 continuously presses the elastic member 701 due to the force, so that the elastic member 701 is retracted, the elastic member 701 continuously generates an outward elastic force on the second housing 20 and the folding assembly 30, the folding assembly 30 is fixed relative to the first housing 10, and the second housing 20 slides along the direction away from the rotating shaft 301 due to the elastic force, so as to generate a continuous stretching force on the bending region 401. In this way, the elastic member 701 can keep the display 40 flat at any stage of the folding process. It will be appreciated that in the expanded state, the elastic member 701 may be in an initial state or in a retracted state, and the present application is not limited herein. It should be understood that the stretching degree of the bending region 401 is affected by the elastic coefficient and the retracting length of the elastic member 701, so that the elastic coefficient of the elastic member 701 needs to be reasonably set in cooperation with the distance between the first sliding slot 201 and the rotating arm 301, so that the elastic member 701 can not only ensure the flatness of the bending region 401, but also avoid the display screen 40 from being excessively stretched. Further, the driving mechanism may include a plurality of elastic members 701, where the plurality of elastic members 701 are distributed between the first sliding groove 201 and the rotating arm 301 of the second housing 20, and together provide an outward sliding force to the second housing 20, so as to provide a stretching force to the bending region 401.

In another possible implementation, the drive mechanism may also include a magnetic attraction assembly, which may include a plurality of magnets capable of forming a distributed array, disposed within the first runner 201 of the second housing 20. The second housing can continuously receive the magnetic force in the first direction during the bending process by the interaction force between the magnets, so that the stretching force can be generated on the bending region 401.

It will be appreciated that the driving mechanisms in the above several possible implementations may be combined with each other, and the combined implementation principle is consistent with the above description, so that a detailed description is omitted.

It will be appreciated that the reason why the bending region 401 is arched is mainly because there is no correspondence between the rotational distance of the folding assembly 30 and the sliding distance of the second housing 20, i.e., the movement of the folding assembly 30 is not synchronized with the movement of the second housing 20. Therefore, the electronic device may further be provided with a synchronizing mechanism for implementing a synchronizing motion between the folding assembly 30 and the second housing 20, so that the display screen 40 can be flattened and fit with the folding assembly 30 smoothly. Specifically, the synchronizing mechanism may include a lever 802, and both ends of the lever 802 are connected to the rotation arm 302 and the second housing 20, respectively. The length of the lever 802 and the position of the rotation center are configured according to the proportional relationship between the movement distance of the rotation arm from the folded state to the unfolded state and the movement distance of the second housing 20 from the folded state to the unfolded state, so that the movement of the rotation arm and the second housing can be synchronized. That is, when the rotating arm rotates to the first position, the second housing must slide to the second position corresponding to the first position, so that the bending area 401 is not arched, and meanwhile, because the synchronous mechanism drives the second housing 20 to move, the flexible force of the display screen 40 is not needed to drive the second housing, so that the display screen 40 is not excessively stretched.

In a specific implementation, as shown in fig. 19, the synchronization mechanism may include a driving member 801 and a lever 802, where the driving member 801 is attached to the rotating shaft 301 and the rotating arm 302, and the driving member 801 may slide on the first surface of the folding assembly 30. One end of the driving member 801 is fixedly connected with the first housing 10 or the rotating shaft 301, the other end is rotatably connected with the lever 802, the first end a of the lever 802 is connected with the second housing 20, and the second end b of the lever 802 is connected with the rotating arm 302. It will be understood that the position where the driving element 801 is rotatably connected to the lever 802 is the rotation center c of the lever, and the two ends of the lever 802 swing along with the sliding movement of the rotation center c to form a circular arc track like a pendulum (the swinging directions of the two ends are opposite). Therefore, taking the electronic device as an example in the folding process, as the folding assembly 30 rotates, the driving member 801 slides relatively to the surface of the folding assembly 30 in the second direction. The driving member 801 drives the rotation center c of the lever 802 to slide along with the driving member 801 in the second direction, and the first end a of the lever 802 swings along with the rotation center c in the second direction, and the first end a is connected to the second housing 20, so that the second housing 20 is also pushed to slide in the second direction. The second end b of the lever 802 swings in the first direction, but the swing amplitude is smaller, and the position of the swing arm 302 is relatively fixed. The unfolding process is opposite to the folding process, but the principle is identical, so that the description is not repeated. Further, in an embodiment where the rotating arm 302 includes at least one protruding portion 3021, the driving element 801 may be specifically disposed on one protruding portion 3021, and correspondingly, the second end b of the lever 802 is also connected to the same protruding portion 3021 where the driving element 801 is located. For example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5a, there are two projections 3021, and the driving element 801 and the lever 802 can be arranged on one of the projections 3021.

Further, the synchronization mechanism may include two sets of driving members 801 and levers 802, which are symmetrically distributed on the rotating arm in the y direction, so as to ensure the stress balance of the second housing 20, and enable the second housing 20 to slide smoothly. For example, in the embodiment of fig. 5a, a set of driving elements 801 and levers 802 may be provided on both protrusions 3021. Of course, the synchronization mechanism may include more sets of drive members 801 and levers 802, the specific implementation being consistent with the description above. The arrangement of the multiple groups of driving components 801 and the levers 802 can enable the synchronous mechanism to run more stably and reliably.

It can be understood that, from the unfolded state to the folded state, since the rotation radius R1 of the driving member 801 is the distance between the axis of the rotating shaft 301 and the outer surface of the driving member 801, the rotation distance of the driving member 801 is l1=pi R1; the distance that the second housing 20 needs to slide should be the distance that the display screen 40 wraps the rotating shaft 301 from the unfolded state to the folded state, i.e. l2=pi R2, where R2 is the bending radius of the display screen 40, i.e. the distance between the axis of the rotating shaft 301 and the outer surface of the display screen 30. R2 is greater than R1 due to the thickness of the display 40 and the bending support 50, etc. Therefore, in order to ensure synchronization of the relative sliding between the folding assembly 30 and the second housing 20, the length of the lever 802 and the position of the rotation center c need to be set with reference to the ratio between L1 and L2. Specifically, the length between the rotation center c and the second end b of the lever 802 is a first length, and the length between the first end a and the second end b of the lever 802 is a second length, so that there should be a first ratio between the first length and the second length. Wherein, the first proportion is: first length/second length=l1/L2.

It will be appreciated that when the two ends of the lever 802 are connected to the second housing 20 and the rotating arm 302, the connection portion is designed to accommodate the circular arc-shaped swing displacement of the two ends of the lever 802 when sliding along the rotation center c. Thus, in the first implementation, the two ends of the lever 802 may be fixed at the waist-shaped hole positions by pins by providing oblong holes (also referred to as waist-shaped holes) on the second housing 20 and the rotating arm 302, respectively. Because the waist-shaped hole has a certain accommodation space in the y direction, the lever can rotate relative to the pin and can slide in the y direction. Of course, it is understood that the waist-shaped hole is only one possible implementation, and other shaped holes that can accommodate the swing track at two ends of the lever 802 may be implemented, and embodiments of the present application are not limited in particular. In a second implementation, as shown in fig. 19, a first accommodating space 803a may be provided on the second housing 20, a second accommodating space 803b may be provided on the rotating arm 302, and both ends of the lever 802 may be placed on the first accommodating space 803a and the second accommodating space 803b to achieve connection. Specifically, in order to provide the above-described second accommodation space 803b, a protrusion 3023 may be provided on the rotation arm 302, respectively, so that the second accommodation space 803 may be provided on the protrusion. It should be noted that, the first accommodation space 803a and the second accommodation space 803b should be disposed to satisfy the requirement of the swing track at both ends of the lever 802. Specifically, the first and second accommodation spaces 803a and 803b may be in a gear shape, and accordingly, both ends of the lever 802 are provided as gears which can mesh with the gear shapes of the first and second accommodation spaces 803a and 803b when swinging.

It can be seen that, since the driving element 801 is attached to the folding assembly 30, the driving element 801 is wrapped on the rotating shaft 301 along with the folding process of the electronic device, so that the portion of the driving element 801 corresponding to the bending region 401 needs to have a certain flexibility, and at the same time, the driving element 801 needs to have a certain rigid force to stretch and push the lever 802, so that the lever 802 drives the second housing 20 to move. Therefore, the driving element 801 may be a material having both rigidity and flexibility, such as a chain, a wire rope, and a superelastic steel plate.

As can be seen from the above description, the above scheme amplifies the movement distance of the rotary arm 302 according to the first ratio by the lever principle, so as to maintain the correspondence between the movement distance of the second housing 20 and the movement distance of the folding assembly 30, thereby implementing the synchronous movement between the folding assembly 30 and the second housing 20, so that the display screen 40 can be kept flat during folding and unfolding, and keep the display screen attached to the folding assembly 30, and the bending region 401 is ensured not to arch and not to be excessively extruded and stretched. It can be further seen that, after the synchronization mechanism is added, the situation that the electronic device drives the second housing 20 and the rotating arm 302 to slide relatively by using the expansion capability of the display screen 40 in the folding and unfolding process can be reduced, that is, the dependence on the flexible expansion capability of the display screen 40 can be greatly reduced, so that the stress of the display screen 40 is reduced, the service life of the display screen 40 is further prolonged, and the reliability of the electronic device is enhanced.

Further, the driving mechanism and the synchronizing mechanism may be a motor, etc., and when the electronic device detects that the folding assembly 30 is located at a certain angle or position, the motor or the motor may drive the second housing 20 to match with the folding assembly 30 to synchronously move or stretch the display screen 40 in the first direction, so that the stretching length of the second housing 20 on the bending area 401 meets the requirement, and the arching phenomenon is avoided.

It should be appreciated that in the unfolded state, further inward folding of the display 40 tends to cause excessive folding of the display 40 to fail. Thus, in an embodiment of the present application, the electronic device may further include a rotation limiting mechanism for limiting the relative position of the folding assembly 30 with respect to the first housing 10. For example, a limit protrusion and a third arc chute (between the first position and the second position) that are matched with each other may be disposed on the rotating shaft 301 to limit a rotation path of the rotating shaft 301 between the first position and the second position, where the electronic device is in an unfolded state when the folding assembly 30 is in the first position, and the electronic device is in a folded state when the folding assembly 30 is in the second position. That is, the rotation of the folder assembly 30 between the first position and the second position can be restricted by the rotation limiting mechanism, for the purpose of preventing the display screen 40 from being folded inwards. In addition, there are many possible implementations of the rotation limiting mechanism, and the present application is not repeated.

Further, in the unfolded state, the folding assembly 30 may automatically start to rotate due to no supporting force, and may not be stably maintained in the unfolded state. Thus, the electronic device may also be provided with a state locking mechanism for locking the electronic device in the unfolded state, i.e. for locking the folding assembly 30 in the first position against rotation. In one possible implementation manner, the state locking mechanism may include a switch portion and a stop portion, and the position of the stop portion is adjusted by toggling the switch portion, and when the stop portion is in the first position, the rotating arm is prevented from sliding into the first chute, so that the electronic device is ensured to be in a deployed state; when the stopper is in the second position, the space of the first chute 201 is released, and the rotating arm 302 can slide into the first chute 201, so that the electronic device can be switched from the unfolded state to the other state.

It will be appreciated that in addition to locking the unfolded state, the state locking mechanism may also lock the folded state or the folded state in a given position, i.e., lock the folding assembly 30 in any given position between the first and second positions against rotation. The principle is similar to that of locking the unfolded state, and the state locking of the designated positions can be realized by arranging a state locking mechanism at the designated positions.

Referring to fig. 20, in another embodiment of the present application, a foldable electronic device may include a first housing 10, a second housing 20, a folding assembly 30, and a display screen 40. The folding assembly 30 includes a rotation shaft 301 and a rotation arm 302, and an extrados surface of the rotation shaft 301 is smoothly transited with a plane of the rotation arm 302. The first casing 10 is provided with a third chute 101, the third chute 101 is used for accommodating a rotating shaft 301, the rotating shaft 301 is placed in the third chute 101 to rotate and slide, and the rotating arm 301 is fixedly connected with the second casing 20. The display screen 40 covers the first housing 10, the second housing 20 and the folder assembly 30, and the display screen 40 is fixed to the first housing 10, the second housing 20 and slides relative to the surface of the folder assembly 30.

It can be seen that the embodiment shown in fig. 20 differs from the embodiment shown in fig. 1-18 b in that the embodiment shown in fig. 20 replaces the sliding between the rotating arm 302 and the first runner 201 in the embodiment shown in fig. 1-18 b with a sliding movement between the rotating shaft 301 and the third runner 10. That is, the rotation shaft 301 slides in the third sliding groove 101 in addition to rotating with respect to the first housing 10 to complete the unfolding and folding processes. For example, when the electronic device is folded, since the second housing 20 and the rotating arm 302 are fixed, the rotating shaft 301 is pressed to rotate and move toward the inside of the third chute 101, and meanwhile, the flexible driving of the display screen 40 also causes the first housing 10 and the rotating shaft 301 to slide, so that the bending region 401 originally attached to the rotating arm 302 gradually slides onto the rotating shaft 301 until the folding state is completely wrapped on the rotating shaft 301. In the unfolding process, the relative sliding relationship among the rotating shaft 301, the third sliding chute 101 and the bending region 401 is opposite to the folding process, so that the description thereof is omitted.

It can be seen from the above description that the folding assembly 30 and the third chute 101 of the first housing 10 adopt a sliding design, so that the electronic device without complex rotating shaft structure can be folded, thereby saving a large amount of structural space, enabling the foldable electronic device to be more compact and light and satisfying the portable requirement of the user.

It will be appreciated that the bending support 50, the constraint mechanism, the limit mechanism, the state locking mechanism, etc. in the embodiment shown in fig. 1-18 b can be multiplexed in the embodiment shown in fig. 20, and thus are not described here. In contrast, the driving mechanism may be disposed on the first housing 10, for example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 21 in which the driving mechanism includes the elastic member 701, the elastic member 701 may be disposed between the first sliding groove 101 and the rotating shaft 301, and two ends of the elastic member 701 respectively contact with the side wall of the third sliding groove 101 of the first housing 10 and the outer arc of the rotating shaft 301 in a pressing manner. In the case that the rotation shaft 301 presses the elastic member 701, the elastic force generated by the elastic member 701 may drive the folder assembly 30 to move away from the first housing 10 to stretch the display 40, so as to provide a stretching force stretching the bending region 401 of the display 40.

The foregoing is merely illustrative embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think about variations or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and the application should be covered. Therefore, the protection scope of the application is subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A foldable electronic device, comprising:

A first housing;

the folding assembly comprises a rotating shaft and a rotating arm;

The second shell is provided with a first sliding groove for accommodating the rotating arm;

The rotating shaft is arranged on the first shell and is in rotating connection with the first shell, the rotating arm is positioned on a tangent line of an outer cambered surface of the rotating shaft and is perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotating shaft, and the rotating arm is used for sliding in the first sliding groove;

the display screen covers the first shell, the folding assembly and the second shell, and is fixed with the first shell and the second shell;

The synchronous mechanism comprises a lever, a first end of the lever is connected with the second shell, and a second end of the lever is connected with the rotating arm; the synchronization mechanism is used for keeping the synchronous movement of the rotating arm and the second shell.

2. The foldable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the synchronization mechanism further comprises a driver; the driving piece is arranged on the folding assembly; one end of the driving piece is fixedly connected with the first shell or the rotating shaft, and the other end of the driving piece is rotationally connected with the lever to form a rotating center; the length between the rotation center and the second end of the lever is a first length, the length between the first end of the lever and the second end of the lever is a second length, and a first ratio is formed between the first length and the second length; the driving piece rotates along with the folding assembly, the rotation center of the lever slides along with the driving piece, and the first end of the lever swings along with the sliding of the rotation center so as to push the sliding of the second shell, so that the rotation distance of the folding assembly and the sliding distance of the second shell accord with the first proportion.

3. The foldable electronic device of claim 2, wherein the second housing includes a first receiving space in which the first end of the lever is disposed; the first end of the lever swings in the first accommodation space with sliding of the rotation center.

4. A foldable electronic device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the rotating arm comprises a protrusion comprising a second accommodation space in which the second end of the lever is placed; the second end of the lever swings in the second accommodation space with sliding of the rotation center.

5. The foldable electronic device of claim 2, wherein the second housing comprises a first oblong aperture; the first end of the lever passes through the first oblong hole through the first pin to be connected with the second shell.

6. The foldable electronic device of claim 2 or 5, wherein the rotating arm comprises a second oblong hole; the second end of the lever passes through the second oblong hole through a second pin to be connected with the rotating arm.

7. A foldable electronic device according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the swivel arm comprises at least one projection, the second housing being provided with at least one of the first slide grooves cooperating with the at least one projection, the at least one first slide groove being adapted to receive the at least one projection of the swivel arm.

8. A foldable electronic device according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the area of the display screen covering the folding assembly is a bending area, the foldable electronic device further comprising:

the bending support piece is arranged between the display screen and the folding assembly and is fixed with a bending area of the display screen; the bending support piece and the bending area slide relatively to the surface of the folding assembly together.

9. A foldable electronic device according to any of claims 1-3, further comprising:

The driving mechanism is arranged between the first sliding groove and the rotating arm and is used for driving the rotating arm and the second shell to be far away from each other so as to stretch the display screen.

10. The foldable electronic device of claim 9, wherein the driving mechanism comprises an elastic member, and two ends of the elastic member are respectively in pressing contact with the first sliding groove and the rotating arm.

11. A foldable electronic device according to any of claims 1-3, further comprising functional circuitry disposed within the first housing.

12. A foldable electronic device, comprising:

the folding assembly comprises a rotating shaft and a rotating arm;

the first shell is provided with a first sliding groove which is used for accommodating the rotating shaft;

The rotating arm is positioned on a tangent line of the outer cambered surface of the rotating shaft and is perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotating shaft;

the second shell is fixedly connected with the rotating arm;

the display screen covers the first shell, the folding assembly and the second shell, and the display screen is fixed with the first shell and the second shell.

13. The foldable electronic device of claim 12, further comprising:

The driving mechanism is arranged between the first sliding groove and the rotating shaft and is used for driving the rotating shaft and the first shell to be far away from each other so as to stretch the display screen.