(12) United States Patent
(10) Patent No.: US 8,060,158 B2
Park et al. (45) Date of Patent: Nov. 15, 2011 (54) HINGE APPARATUS FOR PORTABLE (56) References Cited TERMINAL U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS (75) Inventors: Duck-Bae Park, Suwon-si (KR); 5,278,993 A * 1/1994 Reiff et al. ............... .. 455/575.3 Seung-Hoon Lee, Seoul (KR); * -‘I?_0I1g ft a1~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ 455/5753 ' - , , 1 et a . KWang'H° J“_ng’ SuW°n'S1 (KR)’ 2004/0142735 A1 * 7/2004 Yi ............................ .. 455/575.3 Seung-Woo L1m, Seoul (KR); Y0ng_Whi Lee, Seoul (KR) FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS JP 2006-186501 * 7/2006 (73) Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd (KR) KR 1020020050802 * 6/2002 KR 1020030062624 * 7/2003 ( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this : patent is extended or adjusted under 35 . . U.S.C. 154(b) by 875 days. * “ted by exammer Primary Examiner * Charles Appiah (21) Appl. No.: 11/857,185 Assistant Examiner * William F Rideout (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm * The Farrell Law Firm, P.C. (22) Filed: Sep. 18, 2007 (57)_ ABSTRACT _ _ _ A h1nge apparatus for a portable terrn1nal including a first housing, and a second housing rotatably connected to the first (65) Prior Publication Data housing, includes a first connection terminal mounted on the first housing; a second connection terminal mounted on the Us 200$/0070643 A1 Man 203 2008 second housing; and a connection member straightly reciprocating between the first and second connection terminals (30) Foreign Application Priority Data while the second housing rotates With an electric connection With the second connection terminal, wherein the connection Sep. 18,2006 (KR) ...................... .. 10-2006-0090188 mcmbcr makes contact With the first connection tcrminal when the second housing is folded to the first housing With (51) Int, Cl, facing the first housing, and the connection member also H04M 1/00 (2()()6_()1) moves in a direction of being spaced apart from and With(52) U.S. Cl. .............. .. 455/575.3; 455/550.1; 455/575.1 drawing from the first Connection tetminal When the Second (58) Field of Classification Search 4 5 5 /5 50 1 housing rotates in a direction of withdrawing from the first
455/575.1, 575.3 See application file for complete search history.
12 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
