Eyewear device hinge assembly
A hinge assembly mounted on a housing of form part of an electronic device includes a metal hinge base extending through a mounting hole in a wall of the housing, the hinge base being connected in heat transfer relationship to a metal anchor plate on an inner side of the housing wall. The anchor plate additionally serves as a mounting base for heat-generating electronics inside the housing, the heat-generating electronics being in heat transfer relationship with the anchor plate, so that the anchor plate and the hinge base together form part of a heat transfer path conducting heat from the interior of the housing to an exterior heatsink provided be and external device component.
1. A housing assembly comprising:
a housing defining a housing cavity for holding electronics components, the housing including a housing wall that is of a polymeric plastics material and that defines a mounting hole that extends through the housing wall along a longitudinal axis transverse to the housing wall;
a metal hinge base mounted on the housing wall such that a portion of the hinge base extends co-axially through the mounting hole from the housing cavity to an exterior of the housing for hinged connection to an exterior device component, the hinge base being of one-piece construction and being anchored against axially inwards movement along the mounting hole towards housing cavity;
a metal anchor plate that is located inside the housing cavity and that is oriented parallel to said housing wall and transverse to the mounting hole, the anchor plate being connected to the hinge base such that movement of the hinge base axially outwards along the mounting hole is prevented by obstruction of the anchor plate on the housing wall; and
electronics mounted in the housing cavity via the anchor plate, the anchor plate serving as a mounting base for the electronics, wherein the anchor plate and the hinge base are thermally connected for heat conduction between them, the anchor plate being connected in heat transfer relationship to one or more heat generating components of the electronics, so that the anchor plate and the hinge base form part of a heat transfer path from the electronics to an external heatsink.
2. The housing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the hinge base is anchored against axially inwards movement along the mounting hole by a flange forming part of the hinge base, the flange being located on an outer side of the housing wall and projecting radially outwards relative to the mounting hole, such that at least part of the housing wall is sandwiched between the anchor plate and the flange, the anchor plate being larger in area than the flange of the hinge base.
3. The housing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the connection of the anchor plate to the hinge base comprises a welded connection.
4. The housing assembly of claim 3 , wherein the connection of the anchor plate to the hinge base further comprises a securing screw co-axial with the mounting hole and screwingly received in the hinge base, such that a part of the anchor plate is held captive between a head of the securing screw and the hinge base.
5. The housing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the hinge base provides, at an end thereof furthest from the housing, a hinge formation configured for hinged connection to a complementary hinge formation of said exterior device component.
6. The housing assembly of claim 5 , further comprising an adhesive layer located between the anchor plate and the housing wall, adhesively attaching the anchor plate to an inwards-facing side of the housing wall.
7. The housing assembly of claim 6 , wherein the adhesive layer is shaped and positioned such as to create a seal against ingress or moisture into the housing cavity via the mounting hole.
8. The housing assembly of claim 1 , wherein part of the hinge base is provided by a hinge post that extends axially through at least part of the mounting hole, the anchor plate being connected to the hinge post.
9. The housing assembly of claim 8 , further comprising a sealing member located radially about the hinge post to provide a sealing interface between the hinge post and the housing wall.
10. The housing assembly of claim 8 , wherein the connection of the anchor plate to the hinge base is such that the hinge base is rotationally keyed to the anchor plate, rotation of the hinge base relative to the housing wall about the longitudinal axis of the mounting hole being resisted by rotational anchoring of the anchor plate within the housing.
11. The housing assembly of claim 10 , wherein the anchor plate is non-circular in outline and is located in a substantially complementary non-circular cavity defined by the housing, thereby to resist rotation of the anchor plate relative to the housing about the mounting hole axis.
12. A device that comprises:
a device body; and
a housing assembly incorporated in the device body, the housing assembly comprising:
a housing defining a housing cavity for holding electronics components, the housing including a housing wall that is of a polymeric plastics material and that defines a mounting hole that extends through the housing wall along a longitudinal axis transverse to the housing wall;
a metal hinge base mounted mounted on the housing wall such that a portion of the hinge base extends co-axially through the mounting hole from the housing cavity to an exterior of the housing, the hinge base comprising a hinge formation at an exterior end thereof for connection to a complementary hinge formation to form a hinge mechanism, the hinge base being of one-piece construction and anchored against axially inwards movement along the mounting hole towards the housing cavity;
a metal anchor plate that is located inside the housing cavity and that is, oriented parallel to the housing wall and transverse to the mounting hole, the anchor plate being connected to the hinge base such that movement of the hinge base axially outwards along the mounting hole is resisted by obstruction of the anchor plate on the housing wall; and
electronics mounted in the housing cavity via the anchor plate, the anchor plate serving as a mounting base for the electronics, wherein the anchor plate and the hinge base are thermally connected for heat conduction between them, the anchor plate being connected in heat transfer relationship to one or more heat generating components of the electronics, so that the anchor plate and the hinge base form part of a heat transfer path from the electronics to an external heatsink.
13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the device is an eyewear device comprising:
an eyewear frame that defines one or more optical element holders for holding respective optical elements within view of a user, when the eyewear device is worn, the housing assembly being incorporated in the eyewear frame such that the hinge formation of the hinge base projects from a lateral end portion of the eyewear frame;
a temple that is hingedly connected to the eyewear frame to be displaceable relative to the eyewear frame between a folded position and an extended position in which the eyewear device is in a wearable configuration; and
a hinge mechanism by which the temple is hingedly connected to the eyewear frame, the hinge mechanism comprising cooperating hinge formations provided respectively by:
the hinge base mounted on the housing assembly; and
a hinge formation attached to a proximal end of the temple.
14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the connection of the anchor plate to the hinge base comprises a welded connection.
15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the connection of the anchor plate to the hinge base further comprises a securing screw co-axial with the mounting hole and screwingly received in the hinge base, such that a part of the anchor plate is held captive between a head of the securing screw and the hinge base.
16. The device of claim 15 , further comprising an adhesive layer located between the anchor plate and the housing wall, adhesively attaching the anchor plate to an inwards-facing side of the housing wall.
17. The device of claim 16 , wherein the adhesive layer is shaped and positioned such as to create a seal against ingress or moisture into the housing cavity via the mounting hole.