JP4983459B2 - Electronics - Google Patents

Description

    The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus including a first housing and a second housing coupled to the first housing so as to be relatively rotatable around a rotation axis intersecting the surface of the first housing.

  A notebook personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “notebook personal computer”) includes a main body housing having a keyboard on the surface and a display housing having a screen (for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel) on the surface. The display housing is coupled to the main body housing so as to be relatively rotatable about a horizontal axis parallel to the surface of the main body housing. Based on the rotation about the horizontal axis, the surface of the display housing is received by the surface of the main body housing.

  In addition, for example, a notebook personal computer called a convertible tablet PC can rotate around a vertical axis orthogonal to a horizontal plane including the horizontal axis. Thus, the display housing rotates about the vertical axis. As a result, when the display housing is folded, the display housing can be received on the front surface of the main body housing on the front surface or can be received on the front surface of the main body housing on the back surface.

There is known a notebook personal computer equipped with a sweep-type fingerprint reading sensor on a side portion of the display casing. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
JP 2006-277073 A

  In recent years, notebook computers have a 9:16 aspect ratio instead of the traditional 3: 4 aspect ratio, so that a so-called wide screen is used as the screen of the display housing, due to the use of screens by new operating systems and high-definition broadcast video display. Adoption is becoming mainstream. While the notebook computer is required to have a large screen as described above, it is still required to reduce its external size.

  Therefore, in order to maintain the conventional external size while adopting such a wide screen, it is very difficult to mount the fingerprint reading sensor on the side portion of the display housing. In particular, when the fingerprint reading sensor is a sweep-type fingerprint reading sensor, a space for starting the finger operation from a position away from the fingerprint reading sensor is required so that the fingerprint can be normally read.

  In addition, when a fingerprint reading sensor is mounted at the position disclosed in Patent Document 1 on a display housing that employs such a wide screen, the distance from the vertical axis and the weight of the LCD panel due to the wide screen are damaged. Thus, during the finger operation for reading the fingerprint with the fingerprint reading sensor, the display housing unintentionally rotates around the vertical axis, resulting in poor operability.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device including a fingerprint reading sensor with good operability even in a display casing that employs a wide screen.

  The electronic device of the present invention that achieves the above object includes a first housing, a second housing having an outer periphery having a first side and a second side intersecting the first side, and a surface of the first housing. A first rotation axis in a direction intersecting the first casing, and the first casing and the first casing are configured to be rotatable with respect to the first casing by the first rotation axis. A coupling unit that couples the sides, and a fingerprint reading sensor provided on the first side of the second casing. As described above, the present invention provides the fingerprint reading sensor on the first side of the second casing to prevent the second casing from rotating about the first rotation axis while operating the fingerprint reading sensor. it can.

  The fingerprint reading sensor may read a fingerprint of an operation finger along the first side. According to such a configuration, the operability of an electronic device equipped with a fingerprint reading sensor that requires such finger operation is greatly improved.

  The fingerprint reading sensor may be provided at the position of the first side of the second housing where the first side and the second side intersect. According to such a configuration, the user can easily operate the finger when reading the fingerprint, and normal fingerprint reading is possible.

  The second housing has a sloped portion from the surface of the second housing toward the surface from the adjacent portion of the end of the fingerprint reading sensor provided inside the second housing. Also good. According to such a configuration, the slope portion enables a finger operation for normal fingerprint reading.

  The second casing may have an electronic component in the second casing on the second side. The electronic component is preferably an antenna. According to such a configuration, a good reception state is possible.

  Further, the second casing may constitute the outer periphery, and may have a frame body that houses the electronic component in the second casing on the second side. According to such a configuration, the electronic component located on the second side is concealed and held in the second housing.

  The second casing may have an electronic component on the first side. The electronic component may be an operation switch or a display device that indicates a predetermined operation state of the electronic device. According to such a configuration, the operation switch and the display can be mounted in the space in the first side of the second casing secured by the fingerprint reading sensor mounted on the first side of the second casing. The fingerprint reading sensor can be mounted in the space on the first side of the second casing secured by the operation switch or the display mounted on the first side of the second casing.

  Further, the second housing may constitute the outer periphery and have a frame body having the electronic component at the position of the first side. According to such a configuration, the operation switch, the display, or the fingerprint reading sensor is held by concealing the substrate on which the operation switch, the display, or the fingerprint reading sensor is mounted on the second housing.

  The coupling unit can open and close the second housing relative to the first housing, and has a second rotation axis parallel to the surface of the first housing located on the second housing side. There may be. According to such a configuration, the fingerprint reading sensor can be used in various postures of the second housing that can be taken by the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft.

  The first housing may be a device main body, and the second housing may be a display unit having a screen. The display unit, which is the second casing, may have an input device capable of inputting coordinate instructions at the screen position.

  The first housing may have a keyboard on the surface.

  The electronic device of the present invention that achieves the above object includes a first housing, a second housing having an outer periphery having a first side and a second side intersecting the first side, and the first housing. The first casing and the second casing have a first rotation axis in a direction intersecting the surface of the first casing, and the second casing is rotatable with respect to the first casing by the first rotation axis. An electronic device comprising: a coupling unit that couples the first side; a fingerprint reading sensor provided on the first side of the second casing; and an antenna built in the second side of the second casing. It may be.

  As described above, according to the aspect of the present invention, the fingerprint reading sensor is provided on the first side of the second casing, so that the second casing rotates on the first rotation axis while the fingerprint reading sensor is operated. Can be suppressed. Moreover, this invention of this aspect has an antenna in the said 2nd housing | casing of the said 2nd edge | side of the said 2nd housing | casing, and makes a favorable transmission / reception state possible.

  Here, in the present invention of this aspect, the second casing may include a frame that constitutes the outer periphery and that houses the antenna in the second casing on the second side. According to such a configuration, the electronic component located on the second side is concealed and stored in the second housing.

  In this aspect of the present invention, the frame body holds the display unit having a display screen for displaying information at a position inside the outer periphery with the display screen exposed. The antenna may be arranged along the second side at a position closer to the outer periphery than the display unit.

  In the present invention, even in a display casing that employs a wide screen, an antenna, which is a small-sized component, is arranged on the second side, and a good transmission / reception state is possible.

  Furthermore, in the present invention of this aspect, another antenna may be incorporated at a position sandwiched between the outer periphery of the frame body and the display unit.

  According to the present invention, an electronic device including a fingerprint reading sensor with good operability can be provided even for a display housing that employs a wide screen.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an external appearance of an electronic apparatus, that is, a notebook personal computer 11 (hereinafter “notebook personal computer”) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The notebook computer 11 includes a first housing, that is, a main body housing 12, and a second housing, that is, a display housing 13 connected to the main body housing 12. The main housing 12 and the display housing 13 are made of a reinforced resin material such as polycarbonate. Note that the display housing 13 may be made of a magnesium alloy (for example, Mg—Al—Zn) in order to improve the strength as the thickness is reduced. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the display housing 13 is closed to the main body housing 12.

The main body housing 12 incorporates a motherboard, for example. On this motherboard, for example, electronic circuit elements such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory are mounted. The CPU executes various arithmetic processes based on software programs (operating system, application programs, etc.) and data temporarily stored in a memory, for example. Such software programs and data may be stored in a mass storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) housed in the main body housing 12 in the same manner.

  Input devices such as a keyboard 14 and a pointing device 15 are arranged on the surface of the main housing 12. The keyboard 14 has a plurality of keys arranged along an arbitrary virtual plane. The user of the notebook computer 11 can input various commands and data to the CPU using such input devices 14 and 15.

  FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the notebook personal computer 11 of the present invention in a state where the display housing 13 is opened with respect to the main body housing 12.

  The display housing 13 includes a flat display panel such as a wide liquid crystal display (LCD) panel 16 having a screen aspect ratio of 9:16. The display housing 13 is provided with a frame 17 that forms its outer shape and defines an opening inside. The LCD panel 16 is accommodated in the display housing 13 by the frame 17 and the back cover. The display screen of the LCD panel 16 is exposed to the surface of the display housing 13 through the opening of the frame body 17. The display screen displays various texts and graphics based on the arithmetic processing of the CPU. Further, the display housing 13 includes an electromagnetic induction digitizer on the back side of the LCD panel 16. A user can instruct coordinates by operating the display screen with a stylus pen, and can input various commands and data to the CPU by instructing coordinates of a display object on the display screen. Note that a touch panel may be disposed on the surface of the LCD panel 16 instead of the digitizer. Various touch panels such as an optical type, a capacitance type, an ultrasonic type, and a resistive film type can be used as the touch panel. For example, if a resistive touch panel is adopted as the touch panel, the user can input various commands and data to the CPU based on the contact position by the finger touching the touch panel.

  The display housing 13 is connected to the main body housing 12 by a biaxial rotation mechanism 18 (hereinafter referred to as “rotation mechanism”) which is a coupling unit. The rotation mechanism 18 rotates between the main body housing 12 and the display housing 13 around a first rotation axis, that is, an axis that intersects the mounting surface of the keyboard 14 of the main body housing 12 (for example, a Y1-Y2 direction axis). The second rotation axis, that is, the rotation around the horizontal axis (X1-X2 direction axis) parallel to the mounting surface of the keyboard 14 of the main body housing 12 is realized. Here, the horizontal axis of the rotation mechanism 18 is coupled to the first side of the display housing 13.

  The frame 17 exposes the LED group 19 and the operation switch group 20 that display a predetermined operation state of the electronic device on the surface along the first side of the display housing 13. The LED group 19 includes, for example, a plurality of LEDs for battery charge display, hard disk access display, Num Lock display, Caps Lock display, Scroll Lock display, and security display. Note that various operation states may be displayed on the LCD instead of the plurality of LEDs. The operation switch group 20 includes a Page Down button, a Page Up button, a screen rotation button, an Fn button, a Ctrl + Alt + Delete button, and a power button. A power On / Off status indicator lamp is also provided adjacent to the power button. The LED group 19 and the operation switch group 20 are each mounted on a substrate, and the substrate is concealed by the frame body 17 and stored in the display housing 13.

  In addition, the display housing 13 includes a fingerprint reading sensor 21 at the first side and at the intersection with the second side that intersects the first side. The fingerprint reading sensor 21 is mounted on a substrate, and the sensor portion is operably exposed from the frame body 17, and the substrate is concealed by the frame body 17 and stored in the display housing 13.

  FIG. 3 shows the appearance of the notebook personal computer 11 of the present invention in a state in which the display housing 13 is rotated clockwise around the first rotation axis from the state of FIG. 2, and FIG. The appearance of the notebook personal computer 11 of the present invention in a state in which the housing 13 is further rotated clockwise around the first rotation axis and rotated around the horizontal axis to close the display housing 13 to the main body housing 12. Show.

  FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the vicinity of the fingerprint reading sensor 21 of the notebook computer 11 in the state of FIG.

  The fingerprint reading sensor 21 is mounted at a position recessed from the reference surface of the display housing 13. The frame 17 has a slope portion 22 having a predetermined length that slopes from the position adjacent to the end of the fingerprint reading sensor 21 along the first side of the display housing 13 and toward the reference surface of the display housing 13. . The slope portion 22 guides a finger operation that enables normal fingerprint reading by the fingerprint reading sensor 21. That is, the user scans the fingerprint by the fingerprint reading sensor 21 by moving the finger from the slope portion 22 toward the fingerprint reading sensor 21. As a result of the user operating his / her finger along the inclined surface portion 22, fingerprint data obtained by scanning by the fingerprint reading sensor 21 is temporarily stored in, for example, a memory. Such a fingerprint reading sensor 21 is used, for example, at the time of logon authentication to an operating system (OS), at the time of logon authentication to a network, or at the time of starting a software program. The user registers the fingerprint data of the left hand and right hand fingers in the notebook computer 11 in advance. The CPU performs fingerprint authentication by collating the obtained fingerprint data with, for example, fingerprint data stored in advance in the HDD, based on a fingerprint authentication software program stored in the HDD, for example.

  As described above, the fingerprint reading sensor 21 is located along the first side of the display housing 13, and from the vertical axis of the rotation mechanism 18 as compared with the case where the fingerprint reading sensor 21 is arranged on the screen side portion of the display housing 13. Therefore, the display casing 13 is prevented from rotating around the vertical axis by a force applied by a finger operation for reading a fingerprint. In addition, the fingerprint reading sensor 21 is mounted on the display housing 13 by utilizing the space necessary for attaching the rotation mechanism 18 to the first side of the display housing 13, thereby increasing the external size of the notebook computer 11. The fingerprint reading sensor 21 is mounted on the electronic device without doing so. In addition, when a resistive touch panel is mounted on the display screen of the LCD panel 16, it is possible to prevent the touch panel on the display screen from being erroneously operated by a finger operation for reading a fingerprint, thereby preventing an erroneous operation of the electronic device.

  6 is a diagram showing an appearance of the notebook computer 11 in a state where the notebook computer 11 in the state of FIG. 4 is viewed from the Z1 direction to the Z2 direction, and FIG. 7 is a view near the fingerprint reading sensor 21 of the notebook computer 11 in the state of FIG. The enlarged view of is shown.

  Since the LCD panel 16 is mounted on the display housing 13, a fixing mechanism for the LCD panel 16 is provided between the side portion of the LCD panel 16 below the frame body 17 and the side wall of the display housing 13 (frame body 17). Need. An electronic component can be mounted in an empty space among the spaces provided for the fixing mechanism. If, for example, an antenna for receiving television broadcast radio waves is mounted as the electronic component, it is possible to realize very good radio wave reception.

  FIG. 8 is a front view showing only the display housing in the notebook computer of the present embodiment.

  As described above, the LCD panel 16 is provided at the center, and the frame body 17 extends around the LCD panel 16. A fingerprint reading sensor 21 is provided on the first side, that is, the left end of the lower side including the rotation mechanism 18, and a slope 22 is formed adjacent to the fingerprint reading sensor 21.

  In addition, on the lower side, there is a display window for the LED group 19 built in, and each display window is provided with an illustration that gives an image of each status. Further, a button group for pressing the built-in operation switch group 20 is arranged on the right side, and an operation element for operating the built-in power switch 23 for power-on is arranged on the right side. Yes.

  Further, in FIG. 8, screw concealment 24 for covering screws at the time of assembly is shown at four places on the upper side and four places on the lower side.

  FIG. 9 is a front view of the display housing shown in FIG. 8 with the frame around the LCD panel removed.

  In FIG. 9, a display substrate 191 on which the LCD group 19 is mounted and an operation substrate 201 on which the operation switch group 20 is mounted are arranged on the lower side, and further, a power switch 23 is arranged on the right side. Yes.

  An antenna 31 is disposed between the LCD panel 16 and the outer periphery on the second side according to the present invention, that is, the left side of the LCD panel 16. The antenna 31 is an antenna for a wireless LAN (IEEE802.11n).

  FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the antenna for this wireless LAN (IEEE802.11n).

  The antenna 31 is made of sheet metal.

  In addition, a total of two antennas 32 and 33 are arranged on the upper side of FIG. These two antennas 32 and 33 are both antennas for wireless LAN (IEEE802.11b / g) and have the same shape.

  FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the antenna for the wireless LAN (IEEE802.11b / g).

  This antenna is mounted on a substrate, and the characteristics can be finely adjusted.

  In FIG. 9, the back surfaces of the antennas 32 and 33 shown in FIG. 11 are shown.

  Also, two antennas 35 and 36 are arranged on the right side of FIG.

  Both of these two antennas 35 and 36 are UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems) antennas for data communication using a telephone network, but one of the antennas 35 is made of sheet metal, and the other is The antenna 36 is mounted on a substrate, and both carry a diversity communication system, so that high performance of transmission and reception is achieved.

  FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of the UMTS antenna made of sheet metal, and FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of the UMTS antenna mounted on the substrate.

  Note that the electronic device of the present invention can include other electronic devices such as a mobile phone terminal device and a personal digital assistant (PDA) in addition to the notebook computer 11 described above.

  The present invention is additionally described below.

(Appendix 1)
In electronic equipment,
A first housing;
A second housing having an outer periphery having a first side and a second side intersecting the first side;
A first rotation axis in a direction intersecting the surface of the first case, and the second case can be rotated with respect to the first case by the first rotation axis; A coupling unit that couples the first side of the second housing;
A fingerprint reading sensor provided on the first side of the second housing;
An electronic device comprising:

(Appendix 2)
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the fingerprint reading sensor reads a fingerprint of an operation finger along the first side.

(Appendix 3)
The electronic device according to appendix 1 or 2, wherein the fingerprint reading sensor is provided at a position of the first side of the second casing where the first side and the second side intersect.

(Appendix 4)
The second casing has a sloped portion extending from the surface of the second casing toward the surface from the adjacent portion of the end of the fingerprint reading sensor provided inside the second casing. The electronic device according to any one of 1 to 3.

(Appendix 5)
The electronic device according to any one of appendices 1 to 4, wherein the second housing has an electronic component in the second housing on the second side.

(Appendix 6)
The electronic apparatus according to appendix 5, wherein the electronic component on the second side is an antenna.

(Appendix 7)
The electronic apparatus according to appendix 5 or 6, wherein the second casing includes the outer periphery, and a frame body that houses the electronic component in the second casing on the second side.

(Appendix 8)
The electronic device according to any one of appendices 1 to 4, wherein the second casing has an electronic component on the first side.

(Appendix 9)
The electronic device according to appendix 8, wherein the electronic component on the first side is an operation switch.

(Appendix 10)
10. The electronic device according to appendix 8 or 9, wherein the electronic component on the first side is a display that indicates a predetermined operation state of the electronic device.

(Appendix 11)
The electronic device according to any one of appendices 8 to 10, wherein the second casing includes the outer periphery and a frame body having the electronic component at the position of the first side.

(Appendix 12)
The coupling unit is capable of opening and closing the second housing with respect to the first housing, and has a second rotation axis parallel to the surface of the first housing located on the second housing side. The electronic device according to any one of appendices 1 to 11.

(Appendix 13)
The electronic device according to any one of appendices 1 to 12, wherein the first housing is a device main body, and the second housing is a display unit having a screen.

(Appendix 14)
14. The electronic apparatus according to appendix 13, wherein the second casing has an input device capable of inputting a coordinate instruction at the position of the screen.

(Appendix 15)
14. The electronic apparatus according to appendix 13, wherein the first housing has a keyboard on the surface.

(Appendix 16)
In electronic equipment,
A first housing;
A second housing having an outer periphery having a first side and a second side intersecting the first side;
A first rotation axis in a direction intersecting the surface of the first case, and the second case can be rotated with respect to the first case by the first rotation axis; A coupling unit that couples the first side of the second housing;
A fingerprint reading sensor provided on the first side of the second housing;
An antenna built in the second side of the second housing;
An electronic device comprising:

(Appendix 17)
The electronic device according to appendix 16, wherein the second housing includes a frame body that constitutes the outer periphery and houses the antenna in the second housing on the second side.

(Appendix 18)
The frame body holds a display unit having a display screen for displaying information in a state where the display screen is exposed at a position inside the outer periphery, and the antenna is more than the display unit. The electronic apparatus according to appendix 17, wherein the electronic apparatus is disposed along the second side at a position near the outer periphery.

(Appendix 19)
The electronic apparatus according to appendix 18, wherein another antenna is built in a position sandwiched between an outer periphery of the frame and the display unit.

1 is an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention, that is, a notebook computer, and is a diagram illustrating an external appearance in a state in which a display housing is closed to a main body housing. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the notebook personal computer of this invention of the state in which the housing | casing for display was opened with respect to the main body housing | casing. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the notebook personal computer of this invention of the state which rotated the display housing | casing clockwise around the 1st rotating shaft from the state of FIG. The notebook personal computer of the present invention in a state in which the display housing is further rotated clockwise around the first rotation axis and rotated around the horizontal axis from the state of FIG. It is a figure which shows the external appearance. It is a figure which shows the enlarged view of the fingerprint reading sensor vicinity of the notebook computer in the state of FIG. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the notebook computer of the state which looked at the notebook computer of the state of FIG. 4 from the Z1 direction to the Z2 direction. It is a figure which shows the enlarged view of the fingerprint reading sensor vicinity of the notebook computer in the state of FIG. It is the front view which showed only the display housing | casing among the notebook personal computers of this embodiment. FIG. 9 is a front view of the display housing shown in FIG. 8 with the frame around the LCD panel removed. It is a perspective view of the antenna for wireless LAN (IEEE802.11n). It is a perspective view of the antenna for wireless LAN (IEEE802.11b / g). It is a perspective view of the antenna for UMTS created with sheet metal. It is a perspective view of the antenna for UMTS mounted on the board | substrate.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Notebook personal computer 12 Main body housing | casing 13 Display housing | casing 14 Keyboard 15 Pointing device 16 Liquid crystal display panel 17 Frame 18 Biaxial rotation mechanism 19 LED group 20 Operation switch group 21 Fingerprint reading sensor 22 Slope part 23 Power switch 191 For display Substrate 201 Operation board

Claims (9)

In electronic equipment,
A first housing;
A second housing having an outer periphery having a first side and a second side intersecting the first side and having a first region along the first side and a second region along the second side;
A first rotation axis in a direction intersecting the surface of the first case, and the second case can be rotated with respect to the first case by the first rotation axis; A coupling unit that couples the first side of the second housing;
A fingerprint reading sensor provided in an area of the second housing where the first area and the second area intersect;
Equipped with a,
The fingerprint reading sensor electronic apparatus characterized Rukoto reading the fingerprint of a finger to be operated in a direction toward the second window side from the first is operated along sides and the first rotating shaft side. The second housing has a slope portion extending from the surface of the second housing toward the surface from a portion adjacent to an end of the fingerprint reading sensor provided inside the second housing. Item 1. An electronic device according to Item 1 . According to claim 1 or 2 electronic device according to comprising the antenna built in the second region of the second housing. The electronic apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the second casing includes a frame that constitutes the outer periphery and that accommodates the antenna in the second casing in the second region. The frame body holds a display unit having a display screen for displaying information in a state where the display screen is exposed at a position inside the outer periphery, and the antenna is more than the display unit. The electronic apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the electronic apparatus is disposed along the second side at a position near the outer periphery. 6. The electronic apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein another antenna is built in a position sandwiched between an outer periphery of the frame and the display unit. The coupling unit is capable of opening and closing the second housing with respect to the first housing, and has a second rotation axis parallel to the surface of the first housing located on the second housing side. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 . 6. The electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second casing has an input device capable of inputting a coordinate instruction at a position of the display screen. Electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the first housing is characterized by having a keyboard on the surface.

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