JP2000181570A - Portable information equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable information equipment capable of preventing the damage of a joint part between a PC card and a cable when using the PC card. SOLUTION: A protecting cover 13 for protecting the joint part between a PC card 15 loaded in a card slot 14 arranged on the side face of a main body 10 of notebook-sized personal computer and a connector 16 of a cable 12 connected to the PC card 15 is housed inside the main body 10 and when the PC card 15 and the connector 16 are coupled, this protecting cover 13 is pulled out of the main body 10 and protects such a joint part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable information device in which a PC card is mounted in a card slot provided in a housing, and a cable is connected to the PC card to exchange data with an external device. In addition, the present invention relates to a portable information device that can efficiently prevent breakage of a joint between a PC card and a cable when the PC card is used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the Japan Electronic Industry Development Association (JEID)
A) and PC cards defined by the US PC Card Standards Organization (PCMCIA) are used in various portable information devices such as notebook personal computers.

The PC card includes a type mainly used as a memory card, a type used for a FAX modem card and the like, and a type used as a hard disk built-in card.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of the shape of a PC card. As shown in FIG.
The C card has a size of 54.0 mm in width and 85.6 mm in depth, and is classified into a type and a type according to its thickness. For example, the type has a thickness of 5.0m
m or less.

As described above, such a PC card is formed extremely small and extremely thin by making full use of high integration technology and the like, so that it is extremely convenient to carry and plays a part in the spread of mobile computing. I have.

[0006]

However, since a cable is connected to the connector part of the above-mentioned type of PC card, the connector part of the PC card and the P card are not connected.
Damage to the C card itself is a major problem.

The reason is that a PC card with a cable connection, such as a FAX modem card, an Ethernet card, or a SCSI card, has a cable that swings up, down, left, and right when carrying a personal computer, and the load is reduced to the connector portion of the PC card. Because they concentrate on

That is, a PC with such a cable connection
Since the card is used by simply inserting it into the card slot, like the type of memory card or the type of hard disk card, the load applied to the connector due to the swing of the cable becomes a problem.

Further, since such a PC card is formed as an extremely thin one of 5.0 mm or less, it is originally difficult to impart sufficient strength to the connector portion. Weight and thickness must be sacrificed.

[0010] From the above, when a PC card is used in a portable information device, how to efficiently prevent damage to a joint (connector portion) between the PC card and a cable is an extremely important issue. Has become.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems (problems).
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable information device capable of efficiently preventing damage to a joint between a card and a cable.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable information device in which a PC card is inserted into a card slot provided in a housing, and the PC card is mounted on the card slot. In a portable information device that transmits and receives data to and from an external device by connecting a cable to the PC, a protective cover for protecting a joint between the PC card mounted in the card slot and the cable connected to the PC card is provided in the housing. It is characterized by being arranged so that it can be stored freely.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the protective cover for protecting the joint between the PC card mounted in the card slot and the cable connected to the PC card is provided so as to be housed in the housing, 1) The load applied to the joint between the PC card and the cable can be reduced, and the joint can be efficiently prevented from being damaged. (2) The economical burden on the user due to the damage of the expensive PC card can be reduced. The effect is that it can be done.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the portable information device, the protective cover has a first position housed in the housing and a second position covering a joint between the PC card and the cable. And slide-transfer between.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the protective cover is stored in the first position until the cable is connected to the PC card, and when the cable is connected to the PC card, the protective cover is connected to the PC card. Second covering the cable joint
(2) It is possible to quickly prevent the breakage of the joint by a simple operation of pulling out the protective cover. (3)
There is an effect that the PC card can be efficiently prevented from being damaged without lowering the portability of the portable information device.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a portable information device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, a case where the present invention is applied to a notebook computer will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an external configuration of the notebook personal computer 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the notebook personal computer 1 has a keyboard 10a and a pointing device 10b on its surface. It comprises a main body 10 provided and a display unit 11 formed of a liquid crystal panel.

A card slot for a PC card is provided on a side surface of the main body 10. A communication cable 12 is connected to the PC card installed in the card slot to communicate with the outside.

Here, in the notebook personal computer 1 used in this embodiment, a protective cover 13 for protecting the joint between the PC card and the communication cable 12 is provided so as to be housed in the main body 10.

That is, the protection cover 13 is housed inside the main body 10 in the normal mode. However, when the communication cable 12 is connected to the PC card inserted in the card slot, the user is protected from the main body 10. Cover 13
Slide out.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the protective cover 13 is pulled out, even if the communication cable 12 swings back and forth, right and left, the load is directly applied to the joint between the PC card and the communication cable 12. Since it is not added, breakage at this joint can be efficiently prevented.

When the communication by the notebook personal computer 1 is terminated and the communication cable 12 is removed from the PC card, the protective cover 13 is slid and the
To be stored inside.

Next, the protective cover 13 provided on the side of the main body 10 of the notebook personal computer 1 shown in FIG. 2 will be specifically described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a specific configuration of the protective cover 13 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the protective cover 13 housed inside the main body 10 is pulled out.

As shown in FIG. 1, on the side of the main body 10,
A card slot 14 for mounting a type-type PC card is provided. When a user performs data communication or facsimile communication, first, a type-type communication modem card (PC card) is inserted into the card slot 14. ) 15
Attach. Thereafter, the connector 16 provided at the end of the communication cable 12 extending from a telephone (not shown) is connected to the P
The notebook PC 1 is connected to the C card 15 to enable data communication.

Here, the connector 16 is connected to the PC card 1.
5, the communication cable 12 swings back and forth, left and right, and the load caused by the swing directly connects to the connector 1.
The addition to the six portions often causes damage to the connector 16 portion. In particular, since the PC card 15 is formed to be extremely thin, about 5 mm, the PC card itself may be damaged.

For this reason, in the notebook computer 1,
Knob 1 of protective cover 13 housed inside body 10
By pulling the portion 3a and sliding the protective cover 13 in the x direction shown in FIG.
Further, the PC card 15 is prevented from being damaged.

When the protective cover 13 is pulled out from the inside of the main body 10 to the limit position, the connector 16
The communication cable 12 has a U-shape so that the upper and side surfaces of the communication cable 12 are covered to some extent.

Thus, for example, even when the communication cable 12 swings in the y direction in the drawing, most of the load caused by the swing is applied to the side surface of the protective cover 13 and directly applied to the connector 16. Not so, the connector 1
6 and the PC card 15 can be efficiently prevented.

Next, a case where the connector 16 of the communication cable 12 is detached from the PC card 15 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the protective cover 13 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, when removing the connector 16 of the communication cable 12 from the PC card 15, first, the protective cover 13 is slid into the main body 10 and pushed.

That is, if the protective cover 13 is always present, it will hinder the user from attaching / detaching the connector 16 to / from the PC card 15 and attaching the PC card 15 to the card slot 14. When performing an operation, the protective cover 13 is configured to be slid into the main body 10.

As described above, the protective cover 13 used in the present embodiment is pulled out of the main body 10 when it is necessary to prevent the connector 16 of the cable 12 from being damaged. Since it is configured to be stored in a slide, it is possible to efficiently prevent damage to the joint between the PC card 15 and the cable 12 without lowering the portability of the notebook computer.

In this embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a notebook personal computer has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various portable information devices.

In the present embodiment, the protective cover 13
Although the case where the user himself draws and stores the data is shown, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the connector is connected and communication with the outside is established, the protective cover 13 is automatically slid. It can also be applied to cases.

[0035]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the PC card inserted into the card slot and the PC card
Since the protective cover that protects the joint with the cable connected to the card is arranged so as to be stowable in the housing,
(1) The load applied to the joint between the PC card and the cable can be reduced, and the joint can be efficiently prevented from being damaged. (2) The economical burden on the user due to the damage of the expensive PC card can be reduced. There is an effect that a portable information device capable of performing the operation can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the protective cover is stored in the first position until the cable is connected to the PC card, and if the cable is connected to the PC card, the protective cover is replaced with the PC card. So that it slides to the second position covering the joint of the cable
(1) The protection cover can be easily managed. (2) The joint can be quickly prevented from being damaged by a simple operation of pulling out the protection cover. (3) The PC card can be efficiently damaged without lowering the portability. This has the effect of providing a portable information device that can be prevented well.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a specific configuration of a protective cover portion of a notebook personal computer used in this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an external configuration of a notebook personal computer used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which the protective cover shown in FIG. 1 is housed inside a main body.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PC card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Notebook personal computer 10 Main body 10a Keyboard 10b Pointing device 11 Display part (liquid crystal panel) 12 Communication cable 13 Protective cover 13a Knob part of protective cover 14 Card slot 15 PC card 16 Connector

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A portable information device in which a PC card is inserted into a card slot provided in a housing and a cable is connected to the PC card to exchange data with an external device. A portable information device characterized in that a protective cover for protecting a joint portion between a PC card and a cable connected to the PC card is provided so as to be housed in the housing. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover slides between a first position housed in the housing and a second position covering a joint between the PC card and the cable. Item 2. The portable information device according to Item 1.