JP5732970B2 - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device.

  2. Description of the Related Art An electronic device including a housing, a touch sensor housed in the housing, and an antenna is known. It is conceivable to form the casing from metal or an insulating material. In general, the density of the metal is higher than the density of the insulating material, and the strength of the metal is higher than the strength of the insulating material. For this reason, by forming the casing with a thin metal, it is possible to reduce the weight while securing the strength of the housing as compared with the case where the casing is formed with an insulating material.

JP 2002-312063 A Special table 2002-529998 gazette

  However, if the wall of the metal casing covers the touch sensor, there is a possibility that an operation on the touch sensor cannot be detected. Further, when the metal wall covers the antenna, the antenna may not be able to transmit and receive radio waves. For this reason, it is possible to form only the part which covers a touch sensor and the part which covers an antenna among the wall parts of a housing with an insulating material. In the case where the touch sensor and the antenna are arranged in a distributed manner, it is conceivable that a part covering the touch sensor and a part covering the antenna are individually formed of an insulating material. However, if the wall portions formed of an insulating material are individually provided, the manufacturing cost of the housing may increase.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device in which an increase in cost is suppressed.

An electronic device disclosed in this specification includes a housing including a first wall made of metal and a second wall made of an insulating material, and is housed in the housing and disposed inside the second wall. A touch sensor and an antenna, a light emitting unit housed in the housing, and a printed circuit board housed in the housing and mounted with the light emitting unit, wherein the second wall portion extends from the light emitting unit. A hole through which light passes is formed, and the housing has a first surface, a second surface continuous to the first surface, and a corner defined by the first surface and the second surface. The second wall portion defines at least a part of the corner portion, and a distance from the corner portion to the antenna is shorter than a distance from the corner portion to the printed circuit board .

  An electronic device in which an increase in cost is suppressed can be provided.

1A to 1C are explanatory diagrams of the notebook computer of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the housing. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the inside of the case. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing some members of the housing. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing some members of the housing. FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of the housing. FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the positional relationship between the antenna and the printed circuit board.

  A notebook computer will be described as an example of an electronic device. 1A to 1C are explanatory diagrams of the notebook computer 1 of this embodiment. The notebook computer 1 has housings 10 and 20. The casings 10 and 20 are connected by a biaxial hinge H. The housing 10 has an upper surface 11, a bottom surface facing the upper surface 11, and side surfaces 13 and 15 smaller than the areas of the upper surface 11 and the bottom surface. The side surfaces 13 and 15 are surfaces that connect the upper surface 11 and the bottom surface. A keyboard K and a cover 30 for operating the notebook computer 1 are provided on the upper surface 11. The side surface 15 is provided with a plurality of ports and connectors. A housing for controlling the overall operation of the notebook computer 1 is housed in the housing 10.

  The housing 20 includes a front surface 21, a rear surface 22 that faces the front surface 21, and side surfaces 23, 25, and 26 having an area smaller than each area of the front surface 21 and the rear surface 22. The side surfaces 23, 25, and 26 are surfaces that connect the front surface 21 and the back surface 22. A display unit U is provided on the front surface 21. The display unit U includes a display panel that can display an image and a touch panel that can be operated by touching. The touch panel may employ various types such as a resistive film type, a surface acoustic wave type, and an infrared type. Further, a capacitive touch panel that does not require a touch pen and uses a change in capacitance between the user's fingertip and the conductive film may be employed. Further, instead of the touch panel, an electromagnetic induction type pen tablet using an electronic pen may be employed. The biaxial hinge H couples the casings 10 and 20 so as to be rotatable around two different axis centers A1 and A2. The shaft centers A1 and A2 are orthogonal to each other. The axis A1 extends in parallel with the direction in which the upper surface 11 extends. The axis A2 extends in a direction intersecting the upper surface 11. That is, the axis A1 and the axis A2 intersect.

  FIG. 1A shows a first superimposed state in which the front surface 21 of the housing 20 overlaps the upper surface 11 of the housing 10. FIG. 1B shows an open state in which the housings 10 and 20 are opened. FIG. 1C shows a second superimposed state in which the back surface 22 of the housing 20 overlaps the upper surface 11 of the housing 10. When the user rotates the housing 20 around the axis A1 from the first superimposed state, the notebook computer 1 is opened. When the user rotates the casing 20 of the notebook computer 1 in the open state around the axis A2, the front surface 21 and the rear surface 22 of the housing 20 are reversed from the state of FIG. 1B. In a state where the front surface 21 and the rear surface 22 of the housing 20 are inverted, the user rotates the shaft 20 around the axis A <b> 1 so that the housing 20 overlaps the housing 10. As a result, the notebook computer 1 is in a second superimposed state in which the upper surface 11 of the housing 10 and the rear surface 22 of the housing 20 face each other.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the housing 10. The housing 10 includes cases 10F and 10R and a cover 30. Cases 10F and 10R are made of metal. The cover 30 is made of an insulating material, specifically, a synthetic resin, but is not limited thereto. For example, the cover 30 may be made of rubber. The cover 30 is assembled to the case 10F. The upper surface 11 of the housing 10 is defined by the case 10 </ b> F and the cover 30. The bottom surface 12 of the housing 10 is defined by the case 10R. Cases 10F and 10R are examples of a metal first wall portion. The cover 30 is an example of a second wall portion made of an insulating material. The cover 30 covers the touch sensor and the antenna, which will be described later in detail. The cover 30 is provided with an operation portion 36 that can be pushed down. A plurality of holes 34 are formed in the cover 30.

  On the case 10R side, a motherboard M, a heat pipe HP that receives heat from the semiconductor chip CP mounted on the motherboard M, a radiator R connected to the heat pipe HP, and a fan F that cools the radiator R are arranged. The case 10R houses a touch pen P for operating the touch panel of the display unit U. Two batteries B are arranged in the case 10R. The two batteries B are accommodated in the housing 10 and sandwich the cover 30. The battery B can be removed from the housing 10.

  Most of the housing 10 is defined by metal cases 10F and 10R. In general, the density of the metal is higher than the density of the insulating material, and the strength of the metal is higher than the strength of the insulating material. For this reason, when the casing is formed of a thin metal, the weight is reduced while ensuring the strength of the casing as compared with the case where the casing is formed of an insulating material. In this embodiment, most of the housing 10 is made of metal, so that the strength and weight reduction of the housing 10 are ensured.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the inside of the case 10F. 4 and 5 are exploded perspective views showing some members of the housing 10. A sheet S is attached to the front side of the cover 30. An opening 32 is provided in the cover 30, and a part of the operation unit 36 fixed to the cover 30 is exposed from the opening 32 so as to be operable. A touch sensor 40 is disposed inside the cover 30. The touch sensor 40 is a capacitive touch sensor, but may be another touch sensor. The touch sensor 40 detects the position where the user's finger touches the sheet S attached to the cover 30. The metal piece 46 has one end connected to the case 10 </ b> F and the other end connected to the touch sensor 40. Thereby, the touch sensor 40 is grounded.

  The antenna 50 performs radio communication by transmitting and receiving radio waves. A cable is connected to the antenna 50, and this cable is connected to the connector C1 shown in FIG. Thereby, the antenna 50 is electrically connected to the mother board M.

  The printed circuit board 80 is a flexible printed circuit board having flexibility, but is not limited thereto, and may be a rigid printed circuit board. The printed circuit board 80 is connected to the motherboard M via the connector C2 shown in FIG. The printed circuit board 80 is connected to the touch sensor 40. A plurality of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) 85 and a switch 86 that is pushed by the operation unit 36 when the operation unit 36 is pushed down are mounted on the printed circuit board 80. The LED 85 is an example of a light emitting unit.

  The light guide member 60 guides the light of the LED 85 to the hole 34 of the cover 30. The sponge 70 surrounds the LED 85 and prevents light from the LED 85 from leaking to the outside. The sponge 70 is an example of an enclosing member that surrounds the periphery of the light emitting unit and supports the antenna. The support member 90 is a member for supporting the printed circuit board 80. The support member 90 is made of synthetic resin. The support member 90 is fixed inside the cover 30. The printed circuit board 80 is bent along the shape of the support member 90 and supported by the support member 90.

  6 and 7 are partially enlarged views of FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively. The light guide member 60 includes a light guide part 61, a base part 62, and end parts 64 and 65. A plurality of light guides 61 are arranged in parallel with a predetermined interval. The base portion 62 is continuous with the plurality of light guide portions 61 and extends so as to be orthogonal to the light guide portion 61. The end portion 65 is formed at one end of the light guide portion 61 and faces the LED 85. The end portion 64 is formed at the other end of the light guide portion 61 and fits into the hole 34 of the cover 30. The sponge 70 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped and has a plurality of slits 71 formed therein. The light guide 61 is inserted into the slit 71.

  The printed circuit board 80 includes portions 81a to 81g. The part 81a extends in a predetermined direction. The part 81b is bent vertically from the part 81a. The part 81c is bent from the part 81b and extends in a direction orthogonal to the part 81a. The portion 81d is orthogonal to the portion 81c and extends in the same direction as the portion 81a. The part 81e extends in a direction orthogonal to the part 81d. The part 81f is bent vertically from the part 81d. The part 81g is bent vertically from the part 81f and extends in parallel with the part 81e. An end 81a1 of the portion 81a is connected to the connector C2 of the motherboard M. An end 81c1 of the portion 81c is connected to the touch sensor 40. Two switches 86 are mounted on the portion 81e. A plurality of LEDs 85 are mounted on the portion 81g. The plurality of LEDs 85 have different lighting patterns depending on the state of the notebook computer 1. For example, the LED 85 is turned on, blinks, or turned off according to the state of charge of the battery B. The portions 81e and 81g are located at different heights. Therefore, the switch 86 and the LED 85 are located at different heights.

  FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of the housing 10. The top surface 11 of the housing 10 faces the bottom surface 12. The touch sensor 40 is disposed so as to contact the back surface of the cover 30. As a result, the touch sensor 40 detects the position of the user's finger that has touched the sheet S attached to the upper surface of the cover 30.

  FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. The cover 30 has an upper surface 31 and a side surface 33 that are substantially orthogonal to each other. The case 10R has a bottom surface 12 and a side surface 13R that are substantially orthogonal to each other. The upper surface 31 of the cover 30 and the case 10F cooperate to define the upper surface 11 of the housing 10. The side surface 33 of the cover 30 and the side surface 13R of the case 10R define the side surface 13 of the housing 10 in cooperation. The hole 34 is formed in the upper surface 31 in the vicinity of the corner portion CN defined by the upper surface 31 and the side surface 33 of the cover 30. The upper surface 11 of the housing 10 is an example of a first surface, and the side surface 13 of the housing 10 is an example of a second surface.

  The light guide portion 61 of the light guide member 60 extends obliquely with respect to the vertical direction. The end portion 65 faces the LED 85, and the end portion 64 is fitted in the hole 34. The light from the LED 85 enters the end portion 65 of the light guide portion 61, travels through the light guide portion 61, and is irradiated from the end portion 64. Thus, the light guide member 60 guides the light of the LED 85 to the outside of the housing 10. A portion 81 e on which the switch 86 is mounted is supported by the support member 90 so as to face the operation unit 36. A portion 81 g of the printed circuit board 80 on which the LED 85 is mounted is located directly below the antenna 50 via the sponge 70. A sponge 39 is attached to the inside of the cover 30. The antenna 50 is disposed between the sponge 70 and the sponge 39.

  The touch sensor 40 and the antenna 50 are disposed inside the cover 30 made of synthetic resin. The reason why the touch sensor 40 is disposed inside the synthetic resin cover 30 is that, for example, when the touch sensor 40 is disposed inside the metal case 10F, the touch sensor 40 cannot accurately detect the position of the user's finger. Because there is a fear. The reason why the antenna 50 is disposed inside the synthetic resin cover 30 is that if the antenna 50 is disposed inside the metal case 10F, the radio wave transmission / reception sensitivity of the antenna 50 may be reduced. In this embodiment, since the touch sensor 40 and the antenna 50 are arranged inside the synthetic resin cover 30, both the detection accuracy of the touch sensor 40 and the radio wave transmission / reception sensitivity of the antenna 50 are ensured.

  In addition, the touch sensor 40 and the antenna 50 are disposed inside the same cover 30. For example, when the wall portions made of an insulating material for covering the touch sensor 40 and the antenna 50 are individually provided, the manufacturing cost of the casing increases. However, by using the single cover 30 as in the present embodiment, the manufacturing cost of the housing 10 is reduced. Thereby, the manufacturing cost of the notebook computer 1 is reduced.

  A hole 34 is formed in the cover 30 made of synthetic resin. Thereby, cost is reduced compared with the case where such a hole is formed in metal case 10F, for example. Since the touch sensor 40 and the antenna 50 are concentrated at the same location, the space in the housing 10 increases. Thus, the two batteries B are arranged so as to sandwich the touch sensor 40 and the antenna 50. Further, since the sponge 70 for preventing light leakage from the LED 85 supports the antenna 50, the number of components is reduced.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the positional relationship between the antenna 50 and the printed circuit board 80. Since the printed circuit board 80 is formed with a conductor pattern, the printed circuit board 80 affects the transmission / reception of the radio waves of the antenna 50. For example, when the antenna 50 is covered with the printed circuit board 80, the transmission / reception sensitivity of the antenna 50 is reduced. As shown in FIG. 10, the distance D1 from the corner portion CN to the antenna 50 is shorter than the distance D2 from the corner portion CN to the printed circuit board 80. Here, the distance D2 indicates the distance from the corner portion CN to the portion of the printed circuit board 80 closest to the corner portion CN (the end portion of the portion 81g). In FIG. 10, a region RE surrounded by an arc having a corner CN in the housing 10 as a center and a distance D1 as a radius is indicated by hatching. The angle α indicates an angle range that does not include the printed circuit board 80 with the antenna 50 as the center. As the angle α is larger, the transmission / reception sensitivity of the antenna 50 is improved.

  For example, when the printed circuit board 80 is disposed near the corner portion CN and disposed in the region RE, the angle range that does not include the printed circuit board 80 with the antenna 50 as the center is smaller than the angle α illustrated in FIG. . For this reason, the transmission / reception sensitivity of the antenna 50 is reduced. In this embodiment, the distance D1 is shorter than the distance D2. That is, the antenna 50 is disposed closer to the corner portion CN than the printed circuit board 80. For this reason, the magnitude | size of the angle (alpha) is ensured and the reduction of the transmission / reception sensitivity of the antenna 50 is suppressed. For example, the angle α is preferably 225 degrees or more, but may be less than that. 225 degrees is a value obtained by adding 180 degrees to an angle range of 45 degrees including a perpendicular to the surface of the display unit U in the first developed state. The corner CN is included in the range of the angle α.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.

  In the above embodiment, a notebook computer has been described as an example of an electronic device, but the electronic device may be other than that. For example, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, an electronic dictionary, a PDA, a game machine, a camera, a music player, a navigation device, and the like. Further, the electronic device may be not only such a portable device but also a stationary electronic device. For example, the electronic device may be a desktop computer, a keyboard, a pointing device, audio, a television, or other home appliances.

  In the said Example, although LED was demonstrated as an example of a light emission part, it is not limited to this. The light emitting unit may be an incandescent bulb or a fluorescent lamp, for example. In the above embodiment, the sponge is described as an example of the surrounding member, but the surrounding member may be made of an insulating material. The surrounding member may be made of synthetic resin or rubber, for example.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Notebook computer 10, 20 Case 30 Cover 36 Operation part 40 Touch sensor 50 Antenna 60 Light guide member 70 Sponge 80 Printed circuit board 85 LED
86 Switch B Battery CN Corner

Claims (4)

A housing including a first wall made of metal and a second wall made of an insulating material;
A touch sensor and an antenna housed in the housing and disposed inside the second wall,
A light emitting unit housed in the housing;
A printed circuit board that is housed in the housing and has the light emitting unit mounted thereon,
The second wall portion has a hole through which light from the light emitting portion passes,
The housing includes a first surface, a second surface continuous to the first surface, a corner defined by the first surface and the second surface,
The second wall defines at least a portion of the corner;
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a distance from the corner portion to the antenna is shorter than a distance from the corner portion to the printed circuit board . The electronic device according to claim 1, comprising two batteries housed in the housing and arranged to sandwich the touch sensor and the antenna. A light guide member that guides light of the light emitting part to the hole;
The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising an enclosing member that surrounds the periphery of the light emitting unit and supports the antenna. The printed circuit board has a switch,
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein an operation unit that operates the switch is provided on the second wall portion.

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