A hinge device of a portable terminal couples a body and a folder of the
portable terminal and enables rotation of the folder with respect to the
body. The hinge device includes a cylindrical hinge housing having an
open end, a closed end, and a suspending block that projects from a
peripheral surface of the cylindrical hinge housing and extends
longitudinally between the open end and the closed end; a hinge shaft
having a disk and an angular block projecting from the disk, disposed
along a hinge axis, the disk being housed in the cylindrical hinge
housing and the angular block protruding through the open end of the
cylindrical hinge housing; a hinge cam, disposed outside the cylindrical
hinge housing, having a concave block disposed along the hinge axis in
opposition to the angular block of the hinge shaft, to engage in a
sliding motion in conjunction with the angular block; and a conical
compression coil spring, disposed between the closed end of the
cylindrical hinge housing and the disk of the hinge shaft, to press the
hinge shaft against the hinge cam. The conical compression coil spring is
compressible into a plane, so that the space required for installing and
assembling the hinge device in the portable terminal can be reduced. When
the hinge housing is combined with the folder of a foldable terminal, the
hinge cam is combined with the body of the foldable terminal. Combining
the hinge housing with the folder and the hinge cam with the body
obviates the need for an axis of a conventional hinge cam, which combines
the hinge device with the body, thus enabling the miniaturization of the
hinge device and a portable terminal using the same.