JP2009301114A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide electronic equipment for enabling a user who operates the equipment in the front to check a light-emitting state without impairing the designability. <P>SOLUTION: A power supply switch unit 10 includes a light-shielding portion 18, disposed in an area corresponding to an outer circumference face of a button 13, and a ring-like light transmission portion 17, disposed in an area corresponding to a part of the outer circumference face of a holding member 14. The light emitted from a light-emitting element 36 is made incident on the second face 27 of the member 14 to be scattered by means of a scattering membrane 26, passes though the button 13, reflected by the membrane 26 on the first face 24 thereof to be radially diffused, and passes through the transmission portion 17. As a result, the light emitted from the element 36 is emitted radially, from the transmission portion 17. Accordingly, the light-emitting state of the switch unit 10 of the electronic equipment 1 can be check with an attitude for watching a display face 6, while leaving plating 18b and keeping the designability, as they are. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device such as a notebook computer.

An electronic device such as a notebook computer is required to be provided with buttons such as a power switch without impairing a reduction in size and thickness while improving design. According to Patent Document 1, a power switch is provided at one end of a hinge that rotatably connects a housing provided with a keyboard or the like and a housing provided with a display unit. For example, when the power switch is turned on by the light emitting element, the switch emits light. As a result, for example, a state in which the power is turned on becomes visually easy to understand.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-128805 (paragraph [0135], FIG. 2, FIG. 25, etc.)

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the power switch is exposed at one end of the hinge, there is a problem that the user or the like accidentally contacts the power switch and the power is unexpectedly turned off. Therefore, it is conceivable to arrange a light-shielding portion that surrounds such a power switch and has a protruding portion protruding from the pressing surface of the power switch. The light shielding portion is plated mainly from the viewpoint of design.

  However, when such a light shielding part is provided, a user who operates the electronic device from the front may be blocked by the light shielding part and cannot confirm the light emission of the power switch.

  In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that allows a user operating the electronic device from the front to check the light emission state without impairing the design.

  In order to solve the above problems, an electronic device according to the present invention includes an electronic device body, a button, a holding member, a support member, a switch element, a light emitting element, and an enclosing member. The electronic device main body has a button arrangement portion on one side. The button is arranged in the button arrangement portion, is made of a material that transmits light, and has a disk shape with a first radius. The holding member has a first surface concentrically adjacent to the button, made of a material that scatters light, has a disk shape with a second radius that is larger than the first radius, and the first surface. And a protrusion at a first position off the center of the second surface on the opposite side. The support member elastically supports the holding member from the electronic device main body side at a second position opposite to the first position across the center of the holding member. The switch element is disposed on the electronic device main body side so as to face the protruding portion, and is switched in contact with the protruding portion. The light-emitting element is disposed on the electronic device main body side, can emit light toward substantially the center of the second surface of the holding member, and emits light in response to switching by the switch element. The surrounding member is fixed to the electronic device main body side, covers the outer peripheral surface of the button and the holding member, does not transmit light in the first region corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the button, Light is transmitted through at least a part of the ring-shaped region of the second region corresponding to the outer peripheral surface.

  In the present invention, when the user presses the button, the protrusion pushes the switch element, and the light emitting element emits light. Light from the light emitting element is incident on the second surface of the holding member and scattered by the material that scatters the light on the first surface of the holding member, and passes through the button. The light from the light emitting element is reflected by the material that scatters the light on the first surface, and passes through at least a part of the ring-shaped region of the second region of the surrounding member. For this reason, the light emitted from the light emitting element is uniformly transmitted radially from at least a partial region of the ring shape in the second region of the surrounding member. Therefore, the user operating the electronic device from the front can check the light emission state without impairing the design.

The surrounding member is made of a material to which plating does not adhere in a plating step for a first portion corresponding to at least a part of the ring shape in the second region, and the second member corresponding to at least the first region. The portion may be made of a material to which plating is attached in the plating step, and may further include plating that is attached to at least the surface of the second portion and does not transmit light.
Thus, the plating can be attached to the surface of the second portion without masking the surrounding member in the plating step.

You may comprise the diffusion sheet arrange | positioned between the said button and the said holding member.
This makes it possible to hide the structure inside the button. In addition, light can be emitted uniformly from the surface of the button.

The electronic device main body has a first housing having a first surface provided with an operation unit, and a second surface having a second surface provided with a display unit that can face the first surface. A casing, a first hinge and a second casing are rotatably connected on the back side of the main body of the electronic device, and have a cylindrical hinge provided with the button arrangement portion at one end. May be.
Thereby, the user who operates an electronic device from the front can confirm light emission of a power switch, for example.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the user operating the electronic device from the front can check the light emission state without impairing the design.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, a notebook computer will be described as an example of an electronic device.
1 is a perspective view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention in an opened state, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electronic device shown in FIG. 1 in a closed state.
The electronic device 1 includes a display unit 2, a main body unit 3, and a hinge 4 that couples the display unit 2 and the main body unit 3.

  The display unit 2 can be opened and closed with respect to the main body unit 3 via the hinge 4. The display unit 2 includes a display-side housing 5, a display surface 6, and a display processing unit (not shown) that performs display processing provided in the display-side housing 5.

  The display-side housing 5 is a housing for the display unit 2 that houses a display processing unit (not shown). The display surface 6 is a screen for displaying information, and faces the main body 3 in a closed state.

  The main body 3 includes components such as a main body side housing 7, a keyboard unit 8, a central processing unit (not shown), a hard disk device (not shown), and a connector 9.

  The main body side housing 7 is a housing of the main body portion 3 and has two cylindrical connecting portions 4b. The keyboard unit 8 includes, for example, a plurality of keys and functions as an input unit of the electronic device 1. The central processing unit is mounted on a multilayer printed wiring board in the main body side housing 7. The central processing unit receives input signals from the keyboard unit 8 and performs various processes such as arithmetic processing, control processing, image processing, and output processing to the display unit 2. Functions as the main body. The connector 9 is connected to an external connection connector.

  The hinge 4 is configured by a connecting part 4 a fixed to the display part 2 and a connecting part 4 b formed on the main body part 3 being rotatably connected. A power switch unit 10 is disposed at the connecting portion 4a at the right end of the hinge 4 in the axial direction (Y direction in FIG. 1).

3 is a perspective view of the power switch unit 10, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the power switch unit 10, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the power switch unit 10 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the power switch unit 10 includes a first surrounding member 11, a second surrounding member 12, a button 13, a holding member 14, a supporting member 15, and a substrate 16. The power switch unit 10 is configured by combining these components as shown in FIG.

6A, 6 </ b> B, 6 </ b> C, 6 </ b> D, and 6 </ b> E are a plan view, a left side surface, a front side, a right side surface, and a bottom view of the first surrounding member 11.
As shown in FIG. 4, the first surrounding member 11 includes a ring-shaped light transmitting portion 17, a light shielding portion 18, and a leg portion 19. The ring-shaped light transmitting portion 17, the light shielding portion 18, and the leg portion 19 are integrally formed. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the first surrounding member 11 surrounds the button 13, the holding member 14, and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the ring-shaped light transmitting portion 17 (first portion) is exposed between the second surrounding member 12 and the light shielding portion 18 (second portion). The ring-shaped translucent portion 17 is made of a material to which plating does not adhere in a plating process (for example, chromium plating) at the time of manufacture. The material to which plating does not adhere in the plating process is, for example, a resin material having translucency (Clear PC clear polycarbonate or the like). The ring-shaped translucent part 17 can transmit light.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the light shielding part 18 is formed by attaching a plating 18b that does not transmit light to the surface of the light shielding part base material 18a. The light shielding part base material 18a is made of a material such as ABS resin to which the plating 18b adheres in this plating process. The light shielding portion 18 corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the button 13 does not transmit light due to the plating 18b. An opening 20 for exposing the button 13 is formed in the light shielding part base 18 a of the light shielding part 18. The opening 20 is provided at a position recessed from the end 21 of the light shielding portion 18. The end 21 of the light shielding part 18 protrudes outside the button 13 (Y direction in FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 5, the light shielding portion 18 includes a slope 21 a that is recessed from the outer peripheral side toward the center.

  A manufacturing process of the first surrounding member 11 will be described. First, two-color molding is performed using a translucent resin material (Clear PC) to which the plating 18b does not adhere in the plating process and a material such as ABS resin to which the plating 18b adheres in the plating process. Thereafter, by plating the two-color molded product, the plating 18b is attached to the light shielding portion base 18a without attaching the plating 18b to the ring-shaped light transmitting portion 17 and the leg portion 19, and the first The surrounding member 11 is manufactured. That is, the plating 18b adheres to the surface of the light shielding portion base 18a without masking the second surrounding member 12 in the plating process.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the leg portion 19 is inserted into the second surrounding member 12 and fixed to the second surrounding member 12.

7A, 7 </ b> B, 7 </ b> C, 7 </ b> D, and 7 </ b> E are a plan view, a left side surface, a front surface, a right side surface, and a bottom view of the second surrounding member 12.
The second surrounding member 12 includes a cylindrical second cylindrical portion main body 12a, a first support portion 12b, and a second support portion 12c. The second cylindrical portion main body 12a surrounds the support member 15, the substrate 16, and the like. The first support portion 12b and the second support portion 12c are provided so as to protrude from the side surface of the second cylindrical portion main body 12a. The 1st support part 12b and the 2nd support part 12c are used in order to fix the 2nd surrounding member 12 to the display side housing | casing 5 side, for example.

8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, and 8E are a plan view, a left side surface, a front surface, a right side surface, and a bottom view of the button 13, respectively.
The button 13 is a button of a power switch that is pressed by the user when the electronic device 1 is powered on. The button 13 has a cylindrical shape, and the radius of the disk is the first radius r1 (see FIG. 8A). The button 13 is made of a transparent material such as ABS resin that transmits light. The button 13 includes a base portion 22 and a convex portion 23. In the base 22, for example, a pair of holes 22 a having different diameters are formed in order to position the holding member 14. As shown in FIG. 5, the convex portion 23 fits into the opening 20 of the first surrounding member 11.

9A, 9 </ b> B, 9 </ b> C, 9 </ b> D, and 9 </ b> E are a plan view, a left side surface, a front surface, a right side surface, and a bottom view of the holding member 14.
The holding member 14 has a disk shape with a second radius r2 that is larger than the first radius r1. On the first surface 24 on the button 13 side of the holding member 14, a pair of convex portions 25 having different diameters that are inserted into the pair of holes 22 a of the button 13 protrude. The pair of convex portions 25 are inserted into the pair of holes 22a of the button 13, as shown in FIG.
A diffusion sheet 26 made of a material that scatters the light transmitted through the first surface 24 is provided on the first surface 24. As shown in FIG. 9E, the holding member 14 has a protruding portion 28 protruding at a first position P1 deviating from the center of the second surface 27 opposite to the first surface 24. . On the second surface 27 of the holding member 14, a pair of convex portions 29 having different diameters used for positioning with the support member 15 protrude. The holding member 14 is made of, for example, a milky white resin material having translucency.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a diffusion sheet 26 is disposed between the button 13 and the holding member 14. By disposing the diffusion sheet 26, it is possible to emit light uniformly from the surface of the button 13. Furthermore, the inner structure of the button 13, for example, the surface state of the substrate 16 can be hidden.

10A, 10 </ b> B, 10 </ b> C, 10 </ b> D, and 10 </ b> E are a plan view, a left side surface, a front side, a right side surface, and a bottom view of the support member 15.
The support member 15 includes a ring part 30, an elastic part 31, a substrate holding part 32, a fixing part 33, and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the ring portion 30 has a pair of holes 34 into which the pair of convex portions 29 of the holding member 14 are inserted.

  The elastic part 31 has a curved shape as shown in FIGS. 10B and 10D and is integrally formed with the ring part 30 and the like. The elastic part 31 elastically supports the holding member 14 at a second position P2 (see FIG. 5) opposite to the first position P1 across the center of the holding member 14.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate holding part 32 has a substantially U-shaped frame shape and holds the substrate 16. As shown in FIG. 5, in a state where the substrate 16 is held by the substrate holding portion 32, the switch element (tact switch) 35 corresponds to the protruding portion 28 and the light emitting element 36 corresponds to substantially the center of the holding member 14. As shown in FIG. 5, the switch element 35 is disposed to face the protruding portion 28. The switch element 35 is switched in contact with the protrusion 28. The light emitting element 36 emits light toward substantially the center of the second surface 27 of the holding member 14. As the light emitting element 36, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) is used.

  The fixing part 33 is used, for example, for fixing the support member 15 to the display side housing 5 side or the like. The support member 15 includes a bottom plate portion 37, and the bottom plate portion 37 is surrounded and positioned by the inner peripheral surface of the second surrounding member 12, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of the electronic device 1.
A system 60 of the electronic device 1 includes a substrate 16, a power supply circuit 46, and a system controller 50.

  The board 16 includes a mounting board 45, a switch element 35 mounted on the mounting board 45, a switch controller 51, a power supply switching circuit 52, a driver 53, a light emitting element 36, a driver 54, and a light emitting element 55.

  The power supply circuit 46 generates a DC power supply used in each circuit in the electronic device 1 from a commercial AC power supply and a DC DC power supply from a battery.

  The system controller 50 controls the system of the electronic device 1. For example, when a system activation command is input from the switch controller 51, the system is activated. The system controller 50 manages the system status and notifies the switch controller 51 of the system status (system on / off / standby).

  The switch element 35 is switched on and off when pressed by the protrusion 28.

  The switch controller 51 outputs, for example, a binary signal to the power supply switching circuit 52 based on the on / off state of the switch element 35 and the status from the system controller 50. For example, when the status is system on and the switch element 35 is on, the switch controller 51 outputs “1” to the power supply switching circuit 52, and when the status is standby and the switch element 35 is on, “0” is output to the power supply switching circuit. To 52.

  The power supply switching circuit 52 outputs a binary signal to the driver 53 and the driver 54 based on the binary signal from the switch controller 51.

  The driver 53 supplies the DC power generated by the power supply circuit 46 to the light emitting element 36 based on the signal from the power supply switching circuit 52. The driver 54 supplies the direct current power generated by the power supply circuit 46 to the light emitting element 55 based on the signal from the power supply switching circuit 52.

Next, the optical path of the light emitted from the light emitting element 36 of the power switch unit 10 will be described.
FIG. 12 is an optical path diagram of light emitted from the light emitting element 36 of the power switch unit 10.
Light emitted from the light emitting element 36 enters the holding member 14 from the second surface 27, and part of the light is scattered by the diffusion sheet 26, passes through the transparent button 13, and is emitted to the outside of the button 13. . Part of the light incident on the holding member 14 from the second surface 27 is reflected by the diffusion sheet 26. As a result, the reflected light is uniformly reflected radially, for example, from the vicinity of the center of the holding member 14 toward the inner peripheral surface of the ring-shaped translucent portion 17. The radially reflected light is incident on the inner peripheral surface of the ring-shaped light transmitting portion 17, is transmitted through the ring-shaped light transmitting portion 17, and is uniformly spread in a ring shape outside the ring-shaped light transmitting portion 17.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the power switch unit 10 is provided in a region corresponding to a part of the outer peripheral surface of the light shielding portion 18 and the holding member 14 provided in the region corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the button 13. And a ring-shaped translucent portion 17. When the user presses the button 13, the protrusion 28 presses the switch element 35, and the light emitting element 36 emits light when the switch element 35 is turned on. Light emitted from the light emitting element 36 is incident on the second surface 27 of the holding member 14, passes through the holding member 14, is scattered by the diffusion sheet 26, passes through the button 13, and diffuses on the first surface 24. Reflected by the sheet 26. The reflected light spreads radially and is uniformly transmitted through the ring-shaped light transmitting portion 17. As a result, the light emitted from the light emitting element 36 is transmitted through the button 13 and radially transmitted from the ring-shaped light transmitting portion 17. Therefore, it is possible to confirm the light emission state of the power switch unit 10 of the electronic device 1 while keeping the design 18 while leaving the plating 18b and without looking at the one side of the electronic device 1 while looking at the display surface 6.

  For example, the electronic device 1 turns on the light emitting element 36 with red light when the power is on, or flashes green light with the light emitting element 55 in the power saving standby state. These states can be confirmed by the user.

  The ring-shaped translucent portion 17 of the power switch unit 10 is always exposed to the outside regardless of whether the electronic device 1 is opened or closed. For this reason, even if the display unit 2 is closed while the power is turned on, the light from the ring-shaped translucent unit 17 can be visually recognized without looking at the button 13 of the electronic device 1.

  The ring-shaped light-transmitting portion 17 is made of a light-transmitting resin material (Clear PC clear polycarbonate or the like) to which the plating 18b does not adhere in the plating process. It consists of a part base material 18a. For this reason, the 1st surrounding member 11 provided with the ring-shaped translucent part 17 and the light-shielding part 18 can be formed in the same plating process, for example. Therefore, the manufacturing process can be shortened and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

By arranging the power switch unit 10 at the hinge connecting portion that was a dead space, there is a degree of freedom in the arrangement of the parts of the main body 3 and the display unit 2, and the main body by devising the arrangement of these parts. 3 and the thinning of the display unit 2 are promoted. The power switch unit 10 is provided at a position away from the keyboard unit 8, and surrounds the button 13, and the outer periphery of the button 13 protrudes. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the power from being accidentally turned off during use.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of its technical idea. The scope of implementation belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

It is a perspective view of the state where the electronic device concerning one embodiment of the present invention was opened. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electronic device illustrated in FIG. 1 in a closed state. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a power switch unit. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the structure of a power switch unit. It is AA sectional drawing of the electronic device shown in FIG. It is the plane of a 1st surrounding member, a left side, a front, a right side, and a bottom view. It is a plane of a 2nd surrounding member, a left side, a front, a right side, and a bottom view. It is a plane of a button, a left side, a front, a right side, and a bottom view. It is a plane of a holding member, a left side, a front, a right side, and a bottom view. It is a plane of a support member, a left side, a front, a right side, and a bottom view. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the system of an electronic device. It is an optical path diagram of the light emitted from the light emitting element of the power switch unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic device 2 Display part 3 Main body part 4 Hinge 4a, 4b Connection part 5 Display side housing | casing 6 Display surface 7 Main body side housing | casing 10 Power switch unit 11 1st surrounding member 12 2nd surrounding member 13 Button 14 Holding member DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Support member 16 Board | substrate 17 Ring-shaped translucent part 18 Light-shielding part 18a Light-shielding part base material 18b Plating 26 Diffusion sheet 28 Projection part 35 Switch element 36 Light emitting element r1 1st radius r2 2nd radius P1 1st position P2 1st 2 position

Claims (6)

An electronic device body having a button arrangement portion on one side surface;
A button arranged in the button arrangement portion, made of a material that transmits light, and having a disk shape with a first radius;
The first surface is concentrically adjacent to the button, is made of a material that scatters light, has a disk shape with a second radius greater than the first radius, and is opposite to the first surface. A holding member having a protrusion at a first position off the center of the second surface;
A support member that elastically supports the holding member from the electronic device main body side at a second position opposite to the first position across the center of the holding member;
A switch element that is disposed on the electronic device main body side so as to face the protrusion, and is switched in contact with the protrusion;
A light emitting element disposed on the electronic device main body side, capable of emitting light toward substantially the center of the second surface of the holding member, and emitting light in response to switching by the switch element;
It is fixed to the electronic device body side, covers the outer peripheral surface of the button and the holding member, does not transmit light in the first region corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the button, and corresponds to the outer peripheral surface of the holding member. An electronic device comprising: an enclosing member that transmits light in at least a part of the ring-shaped region in the second region. The electronic device according to claim 1,
The surrounding member is made of a material to which plating does not adhere in a plating step for a first portion corresponding to at least a part of the ring shape in the second region, and the second member corresponding to at least the first region. The part is made of a material to which plating adheres in the plating process,
An electronic device further comprising a plating that is attached to at least the surface of the second portion and does not transmit light. The electronic device according to claim 2,
The plating is applied to the surface of the second portion without masking the surrounding member in the plating step. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2,
An electronic apparatus comprising: a diffusion sheet disposed between the button and the holding member. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2,
The electronic device main body has a first housing having a first surface provided with an operation unit, and a second surface having a second surface provided with a display unit that can face the first surface. A casing, and a first hinge and a second casing are rotatably connected on the back side of the electronic device main body, and have a cylindrical hinge provided with the button arrangement portion at one end. Electronics. The electronic device according to claim 5,
The button is an electronic device power switch.

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