US-12619287-B2 - Connection structure and electronic apparatus

US12619287B2US 12619287 B2US12619287 B2US 12619287B2US-12619287-B2

Abstract

A connection structure connects an electronic board and another electronic board by a flat cable. An inclined part of the flat cable is linearly formed in an A-direction inclined relative to an X-direction and a Y-direction. In the inclined part, ridge fold lines that protrude toward the surface on a Z1 side and valley fold lines that protrude toward the surface on a Z2 side are formed along a B-direction that is orthogonal to the A-direction. A connector connected to the flat cable in the electronic board and another connector connected to the flat cable in another electronic board have shapes elongated in the X-direction, and the positions of the connector and the another connector are shifted in the X-direction and the Y-direction.

Inventors

So Nakanishi
Tatsuya Ushioda
Takehito Yamauchi
Xueyong Yang
Taro Minobe
Jun Iwasaki

Assignees

LENOVO (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240405
Priority Date: 20230524

Claims (7)

1 . An electronic apparatus having a flat display chassis including a display and a rear cover that covers a surface opposite from a display surface of the display, the electronic apparatus comprising: a flat cable that connects a first connection object and a second connection object in a space between the display and the rear cover, wherein the flat cable has a ridge fold line that protrudes toward one surface of the flat display chassis and a valley fold line that protrudes toward another surface of the flat display chassis, the ridge fold line and the valley fold line extend along a direction intersecting with an extending direction, wherein the flat cable includes a diagonal section that runs along a diagonal direction which is coplanar with the display and diagonal with respect to a width and a length of the flat display chassis, and wherein the ridge fold line and the valley fold line are disposed in at least the diagonal section of the flat cable.
2 . The electronic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a plurality of ridge fold lines and a plurality of valley fold lines are alternately disposed.
3 . The connection structure according to claim 1 , wherein the ridge fold line and the valley fold line have angles of 45 degrees or less with respect to an extending surface of the inclined part.
4 . An electronic apparatus having a flat display chassis including a display and a rear cover that covers a surface opposite from a display surface of the display, the electronic apparatus comprising: a flat cable that connects a first connection object and a second connection object in a space between the display and the rear cover, wherein the flat cable has a ridge fold line that protrudes toward one surface of the flat display chassis and a valley fold line that protrudes toward another surface of the flat display chassis, the ridge fold line and the valley fold line extend along a direction intersecting with an extending direction, wherein the flat cable has: copper foil in each of a plurality of layers; and a plurality of through holes are at predetermined intervals and connect the copper foil between the plurality of layers, and the ridge fold line and the valley fold line are at positions offset from the through holes and at predetermined intervals.
5 . The electronic apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising: a plurality of ridge fold lines and a plurality of valley fold lines are alternately disposed.
6 . The electronic apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the ridge fold line and the valley fold line have angles of 45 degrees or less with respect to an extending surface of the inclined part.
7 . A connection structure for connecting a first connection object and a second connection object by a flat cable, comprising: a ridge fold line that protrudes toward one surface of a chassis and a valley fold line that protrudes toward another surface of the chassis are in the flat cable along a direction intersecting with an extending direction; a first connection connected to the flat cable in the first connection object and a second connection connected to the flat cable in the second connection object have shapes elongated in a first direction, the first connection and the second connection are at positions offset in the first direction and at positions offset in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, the flat cable has a linear inclined part that is inclined with respect to the first direction and the second direction, and the ridge fold line and the valley fold line are in the inclined part along a direction orthogonal to the extending direction.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connection structure for connecting a first connection object and a second connection object by a flat cable, and an electronic apparatus provided with the connection structure. Description of the Related Art A flat cable such as an FPC is highly flexible and bendable, provides a high degree of freedom in wiring, and is also thin, so that a flat cable is sometimes applied to an electronic apparatus having a flat chassis such as a laptop personal computer. The laptop personal computer described in Japanese Patent No. 6922037 has a main body chassis and a display chassis, which are connected using a flat cable. In the main body chassis, the flat cable has an S-shaped extra length portion, which accommodates changes in path length caused by opening and closing of the display chassis. The main body chassis is slightly thicker than the display chassis, and has enough room to form the S-shaped extra length portion. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The relative positions of connectors at both ends to which an FPC is connected inside a flat chassis may be slightly misaligned along a flat surface due to assembly errors or the like. An FPC is desirably provided with an extra length portion to accommodate such misalignment. The extra length portion in Japanese Patent No. 6922037 is formed to have the S-shape on the section in the direction of thickness of the main body chassis inside the chassis. Forming such an extra length portion inside the display chassis would increase the thickness thereof accordingly, which is contrary to the demand for thinning. An S-shape could be formed as an extra length portion along the flat surface; however, this would make the FPC considerably longer, which would be contrary to the efforts for shortening signal lines required by recent communication standards and the like. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and it is an object of the invention to provide a connection structure and an electronic apparatus that are capable of accommodating the misalignment between a first connection object and a second connection object in a narrow space, and of connecting with a shorter path. To solve the above-described problems and to achieve the object, a connection structure according to a first aspect of the present invention is a connection structure for connecting a first connection object and a second connection object by a flat cable, wherein the flat cable has a ridge fold line that protrudes toward one surface and a valley fold line that protrudes toward the other surface, the ridge fold line and the valley fold line being formed along a direction intersecting with an extending direction. An electronic apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is an electronic apparatus having a flat display chassis including a display and a rear cover that covers a surface opposite from a display surface of the display, the electronic apparatus including a flat cable that connects a first connection object and a second connection object in a space between the display and the rear cover, wherein the flat cable has a ridge fold line that protrudes toward one surface and a valley fold line that protrudes toward the other surface, the ridge fold line and the valley fold line being formed along a direction intersecting with an extending direction. According to the above-described aspects of the present invention, misalignment between a first connection object and a second connection object can be accommodated in a narrow space, and connection can be accomplished with a shorter path. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic apparatus to which the connection structure according to an embodiment of the present invention has been applied. FIG. 2 is a front view of a display chassis in a state in which a display and a bezel have been removed. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an inclined part in a flat cable. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the inclined part and the surroundings thereof in the display chassis. FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the part of a fold line group in the inclined section of the flat cable. FIG. 6 presents schematic diagrams illustrating a connection structure in the case where a connector has been provided at the positions indicated by the solid lines, which are deviated from the normal positions indicated by the virtual lines, wherein (a) illustrates the case where the connector has been deviated upward, and (b) illustrates the case where the connector has been deviated downward. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The following will describe in detail an embodiment of the connection structure and the electronic apparatus in accordance with the present invention on the basis of the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited by the embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conn