PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH A PLURALITY OF HINGED CONFIGURATIONS AND ASSOCIATED METHOD
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Abstract
There is provided an apparatus for providing a plurality of hinged configurations to first/second members of a portable electronic device, the apparatus comprising a hinge mechanism configured to provide for a closed configuration of the device in which the first member of the device overlays the second member, a partially open configuration in which the first/second members are slid with respect to one another compared to the closed configuration such that the members are laterally displaced with respect to one another along an axis of the hinge mechanism so as to expose a user interface, and an open configuration in which the first/second members are rotated relative to one another around the axis of the hinge mechanism compared to the closed configuration so as to expose an inner surface region of each member, and wherein the apparatus is configured to urge one or more of the first/second members so as to provide for removal of the lateral displacement when the device is urged from the partially open configuration toward the open configuration.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1-23. -23. (canceled)
- 24. An apparatus for providing a plurality of hinged configurations to at least one of first and second members of a portable electronic device, the apparatus comprising a hinge mechanism configured to provide for a closed configuration of the device in which the first member of the device overlays the second member, a partially open configuration in which the at least one of the first and second members are slid with respect to one another compared to the closed configuration such that the members are laterally displaced with respect to one another along an axis of the hinge mechanism so as to expose a user interface, and an open configuration in which the at least one of the first and second members are rotated relative to one another around the axis of the hinge mechanism compared to the closed configuration so as to expose an inner surface region of each member, and wherein the apparatus is configured to urge at least one of the first and second members so as to provide for removal of the lateral displacement when the device is urged from the partially open configuration toward the open configuration.
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43. An apparatus for providing a plurality of hinged configurations to at least one of first and second members of a portable electronic device, the apparatus comprising a hinge mechanism configured to provide for a closed configuration of the device in which the first member of the device overlays the second member and in which the respective centers of the members are aligned, a partially open configuration in which the first/second members are slid with respect to one another compared to the closed configuration such that the members are laterally displaced with respect to one another along an axis of the hinge mechanism so as to expose a user interface and such that their respective centers are no longer aligned, and an open configuration in which the first/second members are rotated relative to one another around the axis of the hinge mechanism compared to the closed configuration so as to expose an inner surface region of each member and in which the respective centers of the members are aligned, and wherein the apparatus is configured to urge at least one of the first and second members from the partially open configuration to the open configuration so as to re-align the respective centers of the members when the device is urged from the partially open configuration towards a configuration in which the at least one of the first and second members are rotated with respect to one another around the axis of the hinge mechanism.
Specification