U.S. patent application number 09/777633 was filed with the patent office on 2002-01-17 for portable electronic device with easy-to-assemble circuit board module.
Invention is credited to Liu, Yi-Loh.
Application Number | 20020006031 09/777633 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 21670343 |
Filed Date | 2002-01-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020006031 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Liu, Yi-Loh |
January 17, 2002 |
Portable electronic device with easy-to-assemble circuit board
module
Abstract
A portable electronic device includes a casing, a circuit board
module, a display module and a fastening unit. The casing has
spaced-apart horizontal top and bottom walls, each of which has
parallel front and rear edges and parallel lateral edges, and a
vertical surrounding wall interconnecting the front edges and the
lateral edges of the top and bottom walls. The top and bottom walls
and the surrounding wall cooperatively confine a receiving space
with a rear opening formed between the rear edges of the top and
bottom walls. The circuit board module includes a main circuit
board with front and rear edges, and a mounting frame mounted on
the rear edge of the main circuit board. The main circuit board is
inserted into the receiving space in the casing via the rear
opening such that the mounting frame is disposed to close the rear
opening. The display module is mounted pivotally on the mounting
frame of the circuit board module so as to be pivotable toward the
casing, and is connected electrically to the main circuit board.
The fastening unit is provided on the casing and the mounting frame
for mounting removably the circuit board module inside the
casing.
Inventors: |
Liu, Yi-Loh; (Taipei Hsien,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SHERIDAN ROSS P.C.
Suite 1200
1560 Broadway
Denver
CO
80202-5141
US
|
Family ID: |
21670343 |
Appl. No.: |
09/777633 |
Filed: |
February 6, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
361/756 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/1616 20130101;
G06F 1/1656 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
361/756 |
International
Class: |
H05K 005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 13, 2000 |
TW |
089212076 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A portable electronic device, comprising: a casing having
spaced-apart horizontal top and bottom walls, each of which has
parallel front and rear edges and parallel lateral edges, and a
vertical surrounding wall interconnecting said front edges and said
lateral edges of said top and bottom walls, said top and bottom
walls and said surrounding wall cooperatively confining a receiving
space with a rear opening formed between said rear edges of said
top and bottom walls; a circuit board module including a main
circuit board with front and rear edges, and a mounting frame
mounted on said rear edge of said main circuit board, said main
circuit board being inserted into said receiving space in said
casing via said rear opening such that said mounting frame is
disposed to close said rear opening; a display module mounted
pivotally on said mounting frame of said circuit board module so as
to be pivotable toward said casing, and is connected electrically
to said main circuit board; and a fastening unit provided on said
casing and said mounting frame for mounting removably said circuit
board module inside said casing.
2. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising an input device and a data storage device mounted on
said casing and connected electrically to said main circuit board
when said main circuit board is disposed in said receiving
space.
3. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said input device includes a touch pad.
4. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said data storage device includes a disk drive.
5. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising an electrical connector set mounted on said mounting
frame of said circuit board module and connected electrically to
said main circuit board.
6. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising a heat dissipating device mounted on said main circuit
board of said circuit board module.
7. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising a protective cover for enclosing said main circuit
board.
8. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said display module includes a liquid crystal display panel.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a portable electronic device, more
particularly to a portable electronic device with a casing and a
circuit board module that are convenient to assemble and
disassemble so as to facilitate maintenance and replacement.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] A conventional portable electronic device, such as a
notebook computer, includes a casing comprised of upper and lower
casing halves, a main circuit board and disk drives, such as a hard
disk drive, floppy disk drive, etc., disposed within the casing,
and a liquid crystal display pivotally connected to one end of the
casing. The electronic device is also provided with an input
device, such as a keyboard or a touch pad. During assembly, the
main circuit board is first mounted within the casing, and after
the disk drives are mounted in place, the input device and the
liquid crystal display are then assembled to the casing. These
components have to be disassembled from the casing in a reverse
procedure when maintenance is desired, which is not convenient,
especially when replacement of the casing is intended to vary the
appearance of the electronic device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to
provide a portable electronic device with a casing and a circuit
board module that are convenient to assemble and disassemble so as
to facilitate maintenance and replacement.
[0006] Accordingly, a portable electronic device of this invention
includes a casing, a circuit board module, a display module and a
fastening unit. The casing has spaced-apart horizontal top and
bottom walls, each of which has parallel front and rear edges and
parallel lateral edges, and a vertical surrounding wall
interconnecting the front edges and the lateral edges of the top
and bottom walls. The top and bottom walls and the surrounding wall
cooperatively confine a receiving space with a rear opening formed
between the rear edges of the top and bottom walls. The circuit
board module includes a main circuit board with front and rear
edges, and a mounting frame mounted on the rear edge of the main
circuit board. The main circuit board is inserted into the
receiving space in the casing via the rear opening such that the
mounting frame is disposed to close the rear opening. The display
module is mounted pivotally on the mounting frame of the circuit
board module so as to be pivotable toward the casing, and is
connected electrically to the main circuit board. The fastening
unit is provided on the casing and the mounting frame for mounting
removably the circuit board module inside the casing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent in the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings,
of which:
[0008] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred
embodiment of a portable electronic device according to the present
invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a casing of the
preferred embodiment;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a circuit board module of
the preferred embodiment with a protective cover;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a partly exploded top perspective view of the
assembly of the casing and the circuit board module; and
[0012] FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of the assembly of the
casing and circuit board module.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, a portable electronic device according
to the present invention is shown to be embodied in a notebook
computer that includes a casing 1, a circuit board module 2, a
display module 3 and a fastening unit.
[0014] The casing 1 has spaced-apart horizontal top and bottom
walls 11, 12, each of which has parallel front and rear edges and
parallel lateral edges, and a vertical surrounding wall
interconnecting the front edges and the lateral edges of the top
and bottom walls 11, 12. In this embodiment, the casing 1 is formed
from upper and lower casing halves. The top and bottom walls 11, 12
and the surrounding wall cooperatively confine a receiving space
with a rear opening 13 formed between the rear edges of the top and
bottom walls 11, 12. In addition, the casing 1 is formed with a
battery chamber (not shown) adapted for receiving a battery unit
(not shown), and an insert slot (not shown) adapted for insertion
of a memory card (PCMCIA card) thereinto.
[0015] The circuit board module 2 includes a known main circuit
board 21 with front and rear edges, and a mounting frame 20 mounted
on the rear edge of the main circuit board 21. The main circuit
board 21 is inserted into the receiving space in the casing 1 via
the rear opening 13 such that the mounting frame 20 closes the rear
opening 13. The main circuit board 21 includes a central processing
unit and other control circuit components.
[0016] The display module 3 is mounted pivotally on the mounting
frame 23 of the circuit board module 2 so as to be pivotable toward
the casing 1. The display module 3 includes a conventional liquid
crystal display panel 31 and is connected electrically to the main
circuit board 21 in a known manner.
[0017] The fastening unit is provided on the casing 1 and the
mounting frame 20 for mounting removably the circuit board module 2
inside the casing 1. In this embodiment, the fastening unit 4
includes a plurality of fastening screws 40 that pass through holes
16 formed in the rear edges of the top and bottom walls 11, 12 of
the casing 1, and holes 231 formed in the mounting frame 20 to
thereby position the circuit board module 2 in the casing 1.
[0018] With further reference to FIG. 2, the portable electronic
device additionally includes an input device 14, a data storage
device 15, a heat dissipating device 22 and an electrical connector
set 23. The input device 14 and the data storage device 15 are
connected electrically to the main circuit board 21 when the main
circuit board 21 is disposed in the receiving space. In this
embodiment, the input device 14 is a touch pad mounted on the top
wall 11 and adapted to be operated by the user. The data storage
device 15 is a disk drive, such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk
drive, or a compact disk drive, mounted on the casing 1. The
connector set 23, which is mounted on the mounting frame 20 of the
circuit board module 2 and which is connected electrically to the
main circuit board 21, includes input and output signal terminals.
The heat dissipating device 22 is mounted on the main circuit board
21 of the circuit board module 2, and is mounted adjacent to the
connector set 23 to dissipate the heat generated by the central
processing unit (not visible) during operation thereof.
[0019] During assembly, the main circuit board 21 can be inserted
into the receiving space of the casing 1 via the rear opening 13
such that electrical contacts thereon are in electrical contact
with the input device 14 and the data storage device 15, and such
that the mounting frame 20 closes the rear opening 13 to achieve an
even appearance, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. The display module 3
can be mounted on the circuit board module 2 prior to or after
assembly of the circuit board module 2 to the casing 1, as
desired.
[0020] When maintenance of the circuit board module 2 or
replacement of the casing 1 is desired, it is only necessary to
remove the fastening screws 40 to permit withdrawal of the circuit
board module 2 from the casing 1. As there is no need to dismantle
the display module 3 from the circuit board module 2, facility is
enhanced.
[0021] Furthermore, in order to prevent undesirable bumping of the
electronic components on the main circuit board 21 against inner
walls of the casing 1 during insertion of the circuit board module
2 into the casing 1, a protective cover 24 is mounted on and
encloses the main circuit board 21 for covering the electronic
components on the main circuit board 21.
[0022] By virtue of the construction of the portable electronic
device of the present invention, assembly and disassembly of the
circuit board module 2 and the casing 1 is simple and convenient,
thereby facilitating maintenance and repair. In addition, the
casing 1 can be easily replaced to meet users' demands for
variety.
[0023] While the present invention has been described in connection
with what is considered the most practical and preferred
embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to
the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various
arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest
interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and
equivalent arrangements.
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