US20060226174A1

US20060226174A1 - Mobile device with detachable power storage device

Info

Publication number: US20060226174A1
Application number: US11/400,315
Authority: US
Inventors: Yi-Ching Lin
Original assignee: BenQ Corp
Current assignee: BenQ Corp
Priority date: 2005-04-11
Filing date: 2006-04-10
Publication date: 2006-10-12
Also published as: TW200636428A; TWI272469B

Abstract

A mobile device with a releasable power storage device is provided. The mobile device comprises a cabinet, a power storage device detachably engaged with the cabinet, a latch disposed on the cabinet adjacent to a side wall thereof and capable of moving along the side, and an engaging portion engaged with the latch. The power storage device comprises a stopping portion and a guiding portion. The stopping portion and the engaging portion are alternatively disposed on one side of the body. When an external force is exerted on the engaging portion, the latch is moved to push the guiding portion of the power storage so as to eject the power storage device from the cabinet.

Description

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to a mobile device, and in particular to a mobile device with a detachable power storage device.
Mobile devices such as cell phones, calculators, personal digital assistances or notebook computers require batteries. In conventional mobile devices, no engaging structure is provided for the battery, and the battery is ejected by pushing it to an eject position in which the battery is removed by hands. Accordingly, both hands must be used to eject the battery. Thus, replacing the battery is inconvenient.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of a mobile device of the invention comprises a cabinet, a power storage device detachably engaged with the cabinet, a latch disposed on the cabinet adjacent to the side wall thereof and capable of moving along the side wall, and an engaging portion engaged with the latch. The power storage device comprises a stopping portion and a guiding portion, the stopping portion and the guiding portion are alternatively disposed on the side wall thereof.
The guiding portion has an inclined surface which has a predetermined angle with respect to the moving direction of the latch.
The predetermined angle is greater than 0° and less than or equal to 90°.
The stopping portion is substantially L-shaped and has a first lateral surface parallel to the moving direction of the latch and a second lateral surface connected to the first lateral surface.
The latch comprises a post and a hole. The cabinet comprises an opening. The engaging portion comprises a protrusion. When the latch and the engaging portion engage the cabinet, the post is inserted into the opening and the protrusion engages the hole.
When the power storage device is placed into the cabinet, the post engages the angle between the first lateral surface and the second lateral surface, and when an external force is exerted on the protrusion, the protrusion moves the latch so as to move the post toward the guiding portion, whereby the post pushes the guiding portion to eject the power storage device from the cabinet.
The cabinet comprises at least one cavity, and the power storage device comprises at least one tab engaging with the cavity.
The cabinet comprises a depression in which the power storage device is accommodated. The cabinet comprises a channel in which the latch and the engaging portion are movably disposed.
The mobile device comprises an elastic element having a first link portion connected to the latch and a second link portion connected to the cabinet. The elastic element can be an expansion spring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is exploded view of a mobile device of the invention;
FIG. 2 is assembly view of a mobile device of the invention;
FIGS. 3A to 3C depict the steps of installing a power storage device into a cabinet of the invention; and
FIGS. 4A to 4D are cross sections of the mobile device of the invention along the line A-A′ of FIG. 3C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, a mobile phone is described as the mobile device of the invention. The mobile device of the invention is, however, not limited to mobile phones, calculators, digital cameras, personal digital assistants or notebook computers are also applicable.
Referring to FIG. 1, a mobile device 100 of the invention comprises a cabinet 10, a power storage device 20, a latch 30, an elastic element 40 and an engaging portion 50. The cabinet 10 comprises an upper cabinet and a lower cabinet. For the sake of clarity, description of the upper cabinet is omitted. The power storage device 20 is accommodated in the back side of a mobile phone as shown by arrow B. The power storage device 20 can be a battery detachably engaged with the cabinet 10. The power storage device 20 comprises a stopping portion 22 and a pair of guiding portions 23 alternatively disposed on one side wall 20 a of the power storage device 20. The stopping portion 22 and the guiding portion 23 can be integrally formed. The latch 30 and the elastic element 40 are disposed in the cabinet 20 and adjacent to the side wall 20 a. The cabinet 10 comprises a channel 11 and a pair of openings 12. The latch 30 and the engaging portion 50 are movably disposed in the channel 11. The latch 30 comprises a pair of posts 31 and a pair of holes 32. The engaging portion comprises a pair of protrusions 51. When the latch 30 and the engaging portion 50 engage with the cabinet 10, the posts 31 are inserted into the openings 12, and the protrusion 51 engages the hole 32.
In this embodiment, the latch 30 is made of wear-proof plastic. The engaging portion 50 can be a knob which is made of polycarbonate (PC) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).
Referring to FIG. 2, the elastic element 40 comprises a first link portion 42 connected to the latch 30 and a second link portion 41 connected to the cabinet. The elastic element 40 can be a spring pulling the latch 30. When the latch 30 is installed in the cabinet 30, the power storage device 20 is assembled into the cabinet 10 along the arrow B.
Referring to FIGS. 3A to 3C, the cabinet 10 further comprises a depression 15 and at least one cavity 16. The depression 15 is formed on the back side of the mobile device 100, and the cavity 16 is formed in the depression 15. The power storage device 20 comprises at least one tab 21 disposed on a side wall 20 b opposite to the stopping portion 22 and the guiding portion 23. When the power storage device 20 is placed in the depression 15, the tab 21 are inserted into the cavity 16 in the direction of arrow C. The power storage device 20 is placed straight in the direction of arrow Y into the depression 15 as shown in FIG. 3B. In FIG. 3C, the power storage device 20 is positioned in the depression 15 tightly and contacts a connector (not shown), thereby preventing the power storage device 20 from escaping from the depression 15.
Referring to FIGS. 4A to 4D, the stopping portion 22 and guiding portion 23 are alternatively disposed on the side wall 20 a. In FIG. 4A, the power storage device 20 has not yet been placed in the depression 15. The guiding portion 23 is substantially L-shaped and comprises an inclined surface 23 a and a plane 23 b. The plane 23 b is connected to the inclined surface 23 a and parallel to a surface 20 c of the power storage device 20. The inclined surface 23 a has a predetermined angle θ with respect to the plane 23 b. The angle θ is between 0 to 90°. The stopping portion 22 is substantially U-shaped and has two first lateral surfaces 22 a and 22 b, a second lateral surface 22 c connected to the first lateral surfaces 22 a and 22 b. The first lateral surfaces 22 a and 22 b are parallel to the plane 23 b of the guiding portion 23.
When the power storage device 20 is placed into the depression 15 in the Y direction, the elastic element 40 is pulled, and the engaging portion 50 and the latch 30 is moved in the direction of arrow X as shown in FIG. 4B. The length of the pulled elastic element 40 is L1.
Referring to FIG. 4C, when the power storage device 20 is positioned in the cabinet 10, the length of the elastic element 40 is recovered to the free length L2. When the elastic element 40 is in a free state, the post 31 is stopped between the first lateral surface 22 a and 22 b to constrain the power storage device 20 in the y direction.
When the power storage device 20 is to be detached, the engaging portion 50 must be pushed in advance. When an external force is exerted on the protrusion 51 of the engaging portion 50, the protrusion 51 moves the latch 30, whereby the posts 31 move from the stopping portion 22 toward guiding portion 23 to abut the inclined surface 23 a as shown in FIG. 4D.
When the posts 31 push the inclined surface 23 a with a uniform force, the y component of the uniform force pushes the power storage device 20 in the Y direction to accomplish the ejection.
The predetermined angle θ is an important parameter for the smooth ejection of the power storage device 20. The angle θ determines the y component of the uniform force as shown in FIG. 4D. Fx and Fy are the x and y components of the uniform force respectively. When θ is between 0 to 45°, Fx is smaller than Fy such that the power storage device 20 is easily ejected from the cabinet 10 easily. When θ is between 45° to 90°, Fy is smaller than Fx such that the power storage device 20 is not easily ejected from the cabinet 10. The angle θ is not limited in the invention.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

a cabinet;

a power storage device detachably engaged with the cabinet, comprising a stopping portion and a guiding portion alternately disposed on one side wall thereof; and

a latch disposed on the cabinet, adjacent to the side of the body and capable of moving along the side wall; and

an engaging portion engaged with the latch.

2. The mobile device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guiding portion has an inclined surface which has a predetermined angle with respect to the moving direction of the latch.

3. The mobile device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the predetermined angle is greater than 0° and less than or equal to 90°.

4. The mobile device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the stopping portion is substantially L-shaped, and has a first lateral surface parallel to the moving direction of the latch and a second lateral surface connected to the first lateral surface.

5. The mobile device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the latch comprises a post and a hole, the cabinet comprises an opening, and the engaging portion comprises a protrusion, and when the latch and the engaging portion engages the cabinet, the post is inserted into the opening and the protrusion engages the hole.

6. The mobile device as claimed in claim 5, wherein when the power storage device is placed in the cabinet, the post engages the corner between the first lateral surface and the second lateral surface, and when an external force is exerted on the protrusion, the protrusion moves the latch so as to move the post toward the guiding portion, whereby the post pushes the guiding portion to eject the power storage device from the cabinet.

7. The mobile device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cabinet comprises at least one cavity, and the power storage device comprises at least one tab engaging with the cavity.

8. The mobile device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cabinet comprises a depression in which the power storage device is accommodated.

9. The mobile device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cabinet comprises a channel in which the latch and the engaging portion are movably disposed.

10. The mobile device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an elastic element having a first link portion connected to the latch and a second link portion connected to the cabinet.

11. The mobile device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the elastic element is an expansion spring.

12. The mobile device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the latch is made of durable plastic.

13. The mobile device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power storage device is a battery.