Information Handling System Multi-Torque Dual Axis Hinge

Abstract

An information handling system rotationally couples first and second housing portions to each other with a dual axis hinge having proximately located dual axis assemblies with aligned parallel axes. A tensile member routed through each dual axis assembly and coupled to opposing front and rear faces motivate synchronized motion of the parallel dual axis assemblies without a geared mechanism. Torque regions defined by each dual axis assembly coordinate housing portion resistance to rotation at predetermined portions of the relative rotational movement.

Claims

1. An information handling system comprising: a housing adapted to contain processing components and having at least first and second portions; processing components disposed in the housing including at least a processor and memory that cooperate to process information; a display integrated in the housing and interfaced with the processing components to present information as visual images; and a hinge rotationally coupling the at least first and second portions to each other, the hinge having first and second dual axis assemblies, each dual axis assembly having a first axis coupled to a first support, a second axis coupled to a second support, and a tensile member coupled to the first support and the second support, the first support having a planar shape with a rear face coupled against the first housing and a front face exposed at the first housing, the second support having a planar shape with a rear face coupled against the second housing and a front face exposed at the second housing, the tensile member coupled to the first support front face and the second support rear face.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the housing first and second portions further comprise: a lid portion integrating the display; and a main portion having a keyboard, the hinge rotationally coupling the lid and main portion to each other for rotation between open and closed positions.

3. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the housing first and second portions further comprise: a lid portion integrating the display; and a stand portion that rotationally extends from and retracts into the lid portion, the stand portion holding the lid portion in an elevated position when extended from the lid portion.

4. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the first and second dual axis assemblies each include friction members, the friction members applying friction at common rotational orientations.

5. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the first and second dual axis assemblies each include friction members, the friction members applying friction at different rotational orientations.

6. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the tensile member comprises nickel titanium.

7. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the tensile member comprises an elastic thermoplastic.

8. The information handling system of claim 1 further comprising: a first baseplate coupled to the first support of the first dual axis assembly and the first support of the second dual axis assembly; and a second baseplate coupled to the second support of the first dual axis assembly and the second support of the second dual axis assembly.

9. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein: the first dual axis assembly has a first friction zone at the first axis and a second friction zone at the second axis; the second dual axis assembly has a third friction zone at the first axis and a fourth frictions zone at the second axis; and the friction zones define four separate increased torque regions at predetermined rotational orientations of the hinge.

10. A method for rotating information handling system housing portions relative to each other, the method comprising: coupling first and second dual axis hinge assemblies to first and second of the housing portions, each dual axis hinge assembly having a first support coupled to the first housing portion and a second housing support coupled to the second housing portion; coupling a first tensile member to the first dual axis hinge assembly, the first tensile member coupled to opposing faces of the first dual axis hinge assembly; and coupling a second tensile member to the second dual axis hinge assembly, the second tensile member coupled to opposing faces of the second dual axis hinge assembly.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising: defining a first increased torque region with friction elements defined in the first dual axis hinge assembly, the first increased torque region having increased torque associated with rotation through a first predetermined rotational orientation; and defining a second increased torque region with friction elements defined in the second dual axis hinge assembly, the second increased torque region having increased torque associated with rotation through a second predetermined rotational orientation.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first and second increased torque regions overlap over less than all of each increased torque region's rotational range.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the first and second increased torque regions provide increased torque over separate rotational ranges.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the tensile member comprises a para-aramid synthetic fiber material.

15. A hinge comprising: first and second dual axis assemblies, each dual axis assembly having a first axis coupled to a first planar support, the first planar support having a front and rear face, and each dual axis assembly having a second axis coupled to a second planar support, the second planar support having a front and rear face; a first base coupled to the first planar support rear face of each dual axis assembly; a second base coupled to the second planar support rear face of each dual axis assembly, the first and second bases holding the first and second dual axis assemblies with the first and second dual axes in parallel alignment; a first tensile member coupled at the first dual axis first planar support front face, passing through the dual axes and coupled to the first dual axis base; and a second tensile member coupled at the second dual axis base, passing through the dual axes and coupled to the second dual axis second planar support front face.

16. The hinge of claim 15 wherein: the first base comprises an information handling system main housing portion; and the second base comprises an information handling system lid housing portion, the hinge rotationally coupling the main and lid housing portions to each other.

17. The hinge of claim 15 wherein: the first base comprises an information handling system; and the second base comprises a viewing stand rotationally coupled to the information handling system housing to hold the information handling system in an elevated position.

18. The hinge of claim 15 wherein the first and second tensile members comprise nickel titanium alloy.

19. The hinge of claim 15 further comprising: a first torque region associated with the first dual axis assembly and providing increased resistance to rotation through a first rotational range of motion; and a second torque region associated with the second dual axis assembly and providing increased resistance to rotation through a second rotational range of motion; wherein the first and second torque regions overlap across some but not all of the rotational range of motion.

20. The hinge of claim 15 further comprising: a first torque region associated with the first dual axis assembly and providing increased resistance to rotation through a first rotational range of motion; and a second torque region associated with the second dual axis assembly and providing increased resistance to rotation through a second rotational range of motion wherein the first and second torque regions operate over different and separate rotational ranges of motion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference number throughout the several figures designates a like or similar element.

[0010] FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an information handling system having processing components integrated in a housing with rotationally-coupled housing portions;

[0011] FIG. 2 depicts an information handling system held in a viewing position by a hinge with a separate keyboard housing portion;

[0012] FIG. 3 depicts a side perspective view of a two dual axis hinge assemblies forming a hinge over interconnecting base plates;

[0013] FIG. 4 depicts a side cutaway view of the hinge having tensile members coupled to opposing faces of each dual axis hinge assembly;

[0014] FIG. 5 depicts a blow up view of the hinge and dual axis hinge assemblies;

[0015] FIG. 6 depicts one example of high and low torque regions defined for the hinge by the dual axis hinge assemblies; and

[0016] FIGS. 7A-7F, generally referred to as FIG. 7, depict an example embodiment of the hinge having variable torque regions throughout the rotational motion of the housing portions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] An information handling system rotationally couples housing portions to each other with a hinge having parallel dual axis hinge assemblies synchronized in motion by tensile members coupled to opposing faces of each dual axis hinge assembly. For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.

[0018] Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram depicts an information handling system 10 having processing components integrated in a housing with rotationally-coupled housing portions, in the example embodiment, information handling system 10 has a convertible configuration with a main housing portion 12 rotationally coupled to a lid housing portion 14 that rotates 360 degrees between closed and tablet orientations. In the example embodiment, main housing portion 12 integrates a motherboard 28 that interfaces processing components to process information. A central processing unit (CPU) 16 executes instructions to process information stored in random access memory (RAM) 18, such as instructions of an application stored in persistent memory of a solid state drive (SSD) 20. Information generated by CPU 16 is processed by a graphics processor unit 22 to generate pixel values that define visual images presented at a display 30. A chipset 24 includes a variety of processors, controllers and firmware components that cooperate to manage physical interfaces at the information handling system, such as with input/output and power devices. A wireless network interface card (WNIC) 26 provides wireless communication with external devices and networks, such as wireless local area networks (WLAN), wireless personal area networks (WPAN) and wireless wide area networks (WWAN). In different example embodiments, different types of processing components and housing configurations may be used.

[0019] In the example embodiment, main housing portion 12 and lid housing portion 14 rotationally couple with hinges 32 to rotate relative to each other between closed, open and tablet positions. Hinges 32 couple to hinge mounts 34 on each housing portion and have a dual axis as described below to support 360 degrees of relative motion. In the closed position, lid portion 14 brings display 30 over top of main portion 12 to protect display 12 and convert the system for portability. Lid portion 14 rotates approximately 90 degrees to a clamshell configuration that has display 30 held upright in a viewing position. In the clamshell orientation, a keyboard disposed over the processing components is in a convenient position to accept end user inputs. Lid portion 14 also rotates 360 degrees to expose display 3C) in a tablet configuration, such as by rotating around main portion 12 about a dual axis hinge. At different rotational orientations, an end user tends to have different expectations regarding the tendency of display 30 to remain in a fixed position relative to main housing portion 12. For example, in a closed position users tend to expect some bias against movement so that the lid and main housing portions remain closed unless pulled apart yet are not too difficult to pull apart. As another example, in a clamshell rotational orientation, users tend to expect that display 30 will maintain a viewing position unless operated upon with an intentional force, in other words, users tend to want to rotate display 30 to a rotational orientation that provides ready viewing and then have display 30 stay in that rotational orientation until intentionally moved by the end user.

[0020] Referring now to FIG. 2, an information handling system 10 is depicted held in a viewing position by a hinge with a separate keyboard housing portion 12. In the example embodiment, lid housing portion 14 includes the processing components in a tablet configuration that separates from the main housing portion 12 having a keyboard 36. Display 30 is held in a viewing position by a stand 38 that rotates outward from lid housing portion 14 about a hinge 32. The example embodiment illustrates that hinge 32 adapts to different functions in a portable information handling system by adapting the rotational angle at which the hinges provide increased torque. For example a 360 degree hinge with a detachable coupling provides rotation of main and lid housing portions while a 180 degree hinge provides rotational coupling of stand 38 to lid portion 14. The 360 degree hinge 32 may provide multiple high torque regions at typical rotational orientations used when viewing convertible systems, such as at clamshell and tablet orientations. The 180 degree hinge may provide high torque regions after stand 38 reaches a typical viewing angle and maintain high torque throughout an expected viewing angle range.

[0021] Referring now to FIG. 3, a side perspective view depicts two dual axis hinge assemblies 40 forming a hinge 32 over interconnecting base plates 46. Each dual axis assembly 40 has dual parallel axes 44 that couple to a support 42. Each support 42 includes coupling points to attach to opposing rotational bodies, such as with screws. In the example embodiment, first and second dual axis hinge assemblies are assembled in a parallel manner using base plates 50 that interconnect opposing sides of each dual axis assembly. Base plates 50 assemble to dual axis assemblies 40 to provide a contiguous hinge 32 from multiple hinge assemblies, thus simplifying manufacture and installation of hinges 32 into information handling systems 10. In one alternative embodiment, hinge assemblies 40 are installed separately into an information handling system to define a hinge 30, thus reducing the height of the completed hinge,

[0022] Dual axis assemblies 40 include preset friction devices that selectively increase frictional resistance to rotation at predetermined angles. A tensile member 48 couples to a front face of one support 42 and a rear face of an opposing support 42 for each dual axis assembly 40. For example, tensile member 48 is a para-aramid fiber, such as Kevlar, or a memory alloy, such as nickel titanium, or a high resilience thermoplastic. Tensile member 48 provides a spring-like bias against rotational movement and passes between the dual axles 44 of each hinge assembly so that movement of supports 42 and axles 44 of each assembly are synchronized as supports 42 rotate through 360 degrees of movement. The first and second dual axis assemblies 40 of hinge 32 are assembled to base plates 46 proximate to each other with the axles 44 aligned in a parallel manner to define a common rotational axis.

[0023] Referring now to FIG. 4, a side cutaway view depicts the hinge 32 having tensile members 48 coupled to opposing faces of each dual axis hinge assembly 40. Axles 44 rotate independently of each other without any geared connections. Tensile members 48 pass between axles 44 and couple to an upper surface of support 42 on one side of a dual axis assembly 40 and to a lower surface of base plate 46 on the other support 42 of the dual axis assembly. In alternative embodiments, tensile member 48 couples to the lower surface of support 42 and is trapped between the lower surface and base plate 46. Tensile member 48 couples in a fixed manner to the dual axis assembly 40, such as with an adhesive, welding or a screw. Tensile member 48 applies bias to opposing supports 42 of each dual axis assembly 40 so that rotational movement of an axle is translated to the other axle of the dual axis assembly in a synchronized manner. Similarly, base plates 46 coordinate movement of each dual axis assembly so that tensile members provide a synchronized motion of hinge 32 as a complete assembled unit. In particular, each axle 42 of each dual axis hinge assembly 40 biases to move in a synchronized manner even if different levels of friction are generated at different relative rotational angles. The translation of movement by tensile members 48 provide an inexpensive and robust synchronization mechanism without geared interconnections and having a low Z-axis height to adapt to small portable information handling system housings.

[0024] Referring now to FIG. 5, a blow up view depicts the hinge 32 and dual axis hinge assemblies 40. In the example embodiments, first and second dual axis assemblies are coupled to base plates 46 to from a single hinge with first and second tensile members 48 synchronizing hinge movement. In alternative embodiments, additional dual axis assemblies may be included to form the hinge with three or more dual axis assemblies 48. For example, dual axis assemblies 48 are acquired prefabricated to have integrated friction members that provide friction as defined relative angular rotational positions. A hinge 32 assembled from multiple dual axis assemblies 40 has the combined frictional response of the assembled dual axis assemblies 42 where each relative rotational position generates torque that opposes rotational motion based upon the integrated friction members and translates the torque across the hinge 32 as a whole unit. Thus the torque profile of a hinge 32 is defined by the dual axis hinge assemblies 40 included in the hinge 32. An information handling system that needs to hold a display in a desired set or relative rotational positions uses a hinge that has dual axis assemblies with the desired torque profile.

[0025] Referring now to FIG. 6, one example is depicted of high and low torque regions defined for the hinge by the dual axis assemblies 40. In the example embodiment, a low torque region 50 starts after an initial rotation of approximately 20 degrees from a flat orientation. For example, on dual axis assembly 40 has friction members that provide friction in the low torque region 50 while the other dual axis assembly 40 does not have friction applied in the low torque region 50. As hinge 32 rotates to approximately 135 degrees, the second dual axis assembly introduces friction to oppose rotational motion in addition to the friction of the first dual axis assembly to create a high torque region 52. The example embodiment provides hinge movement adapted to hold a tablet information handling system in a viewing position. The amount and location of rotational movement associated with low torque region 50 and high torque region 52 are adapted by selecting dual axis assemblies with defined friction characteristics for the desired housing motion. Thus, for instance, hinge 32 in the example embodiment could instead have similar torque regions at the initial rotation of the hinge and no torque in middle rotational angles so that a stand readily adapts to reversed vertical orientations of the tablet information handling system. In one example embodiment each dual axis assembly includes multiple friction devices that provide multiple rotation regions of increased torque. In various embodiments, cost and size constraints may drive the inclusion of a lesser number of more complex dual axis assemblies versus a greater number of more simple dual axis assemblies that each include fewer friction regions. Friction within a dual axis assembly may be provided any number of conventional friction devices that operate on one or both axels 44.

[0026] Referring now to FIG. 7, an example embodiment depicts the hinge 32 having variable torque regions throughout the rotational motion of the housing portions. Starting at element 54 and proceeding through element 64 various rotational angles and their associated torques are depicted for a convertible information handling system rotating 180 degrees from a fully open to a closed position. Similar torque values are provided for rotation from closed to open positions and may be provided through 360 degrees of rotational travel.

[0027] Initially in the fully open position 54 no friction is created so that an end user may easily lift the housing portion from a flat surface. As the housing portion rotates to and past 10 degrees, the first dual axis assembly of the hinge engages a friction device to provide approximately 3 kgfm of torque. The first dual axis assembly maintains the constant torque for the remainder of the rotation of the housing portions to the closed position. In a vertical orientation commonly used for viewing the display, the torque of just one dual axis assembly is sufficient to maintain the housing orientation. As the housing portions rotate approximately 135 degrees at step 62, the friction device of the second dual axis assembly engages to provide additional torque against housing rotation until the closed position is reached. The increased torque associated with the closed position prevents undesired opening of the information handling system while in a portable state. In the example embodiment of FIG. 7, rotational torque is provided from each of two dual axis assemblies in one rotational region each only to provide three different levels of rotational torque. In alternative embodiments, alternative types of torque regions may be defined with alternative structures. For instance, each dual axis assembly may include a friction device on each axle so that each dual axis assembly has two torque regions that may or may not overlap, thus allowing up to four separate torque regions and an even greater number of mixed torque regions. Alternatively or in addition, more than two dual axis assemblies may be used to define additional torque regions. In some less complex housing arrangements, a single dual axis assembly may form the hinge with the tensile member providing synchronized motion.

[0028] Although the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.