JPH11307957A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus with a simple structure that can be commonly used for different types of external devices. SOLUTION: In three types of external devices, that is one having a tapered guide pin, one having a guide pin 17 that has a step 18 at the end, and one having a rotatable screw rod with a screw at the end, a spring member 15 is provided in a cylindrical insertion part 14 to insert a guide protrusion or a connection member of an external device to constitute a first and second guides 11 and 12. At the same time, a nut 20 is provided deep inside the cylindrical insertion part 14 of the second guide 12. Therefore, a tapered guide pin can be inserted into the cylindrical insertion part 14. A guide pin 17 having a step 18 can be also inserted into the cylindrical insertion part 14 and the step 18 at the end can be engaged and locked to the spring member 15. The screw rod can be also inserted into the cylindrical insertion part 14 to engage the screw at the end to the screw hole 20. Thus, different types of external devices can be commonly used with a simple structure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electronic device such as a mobile device which can be easily carried, a personal computer, a modem, etc.
It is often connected to various external devices. In such an electronic device, it is necessary to make the device main body compact in consideration of portability. Therefore, a common connection portion is demanded, and in order to respond to this, external devices of different types are provided in the device main body. And a common body-side connector to which the external-side connectors of these external devices are connected.

However, when this electronic device is connected to an external device such as a personal computer, the electronic device can be mounted and connected to a dedicated connection device connected to the external device. When connecting to an external device such as the above, it is necessary to securely lock the two devices so that the two devices cannot be disconnected because they are held in a hand or placed on a table in a connected state. For this reason, a conventional portable electronic device is provided with a lock mechanism for removably locking an external device such as a modem, in addition to a common guide hole and a common main body side connector. The lock mechanism is configured such that a lock member is slidably provided on the main body of the device, and the lock member is operated by an operation button, so that the lock member locks an external device such as a modem in a detachable manner. Have been.

[0004]

However, in such an electronic device, the structure of the lock mechanism is complicated and the mounting space for the main body of the device is increased, which not only hinders miniaturization of the entire device, but also prevents the lock mechanism from being used. Unless the operation buttons are operated, locking and unlocking of an external device such as a modem cannot be performed. Therefore, operability is poor, and there are problems such as forgetting to lock. In such electronic devices,
If the mounting structure for the external device is a screw type, there is a disadvantage that the device cannot be commonly used unless measures are taken against the screw structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a common device for different types of external devices, to have a simple structure, to be able to lock securely, to have good operability, and to provide a large mounting space without requiring a large mounting space. The aim is to reduce the size.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A device main body detachably connected to two types of external device having a tapered guide projection or an external device having a guide projection provided with a stepped portion at a tip thereof; An insertion portion into which the guide protrusion of the external device is inserted, and an elastic locking portion provided in the insertion portion and removably locking the step portion provided at the tip of the inserted guide protrusion. It is characterized by having. According to the present invention, since the insertion portion into which the guide protrusion of the external device is inserted is provided with the elastic locking portion for locking the step at the tip of the guide protrusion so as to be disengageable, for example, the tapered guide protrusion may be provided. In an external device having the guide protrusion, the guide protrusion can be directly inserted into the insertion portion of the device main body, and in an external device having a guide protrusion provided with a step at the tip, the tip of the guide protrusion can be inserted into the insertion portion of the device main body. By inserting the guide projection, the step at the tip of the guide projection can be elastically locked and locked by an elastic locking portion, so that it can be used in common for different types of external devices, and the insertion portion has an elasticity. Since the structure is only to provide a locking part, the structure is simple,
Locking can be reliably performed, and detaching operability is good, so that it is possible to reduce the size of the entire device without requiring a large mounting space.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an external device having a tapered guide protrusion, an external device having a guide protrusion provided with a step at its tip, or a rotatable device provided with a screw at its tip. An apparatus main body detachably connected to three types of external devices having a connecting member, an insertion portion provided on the apparatus main body, wherein the guide protrusions or the connecting members of the three types of external devices are inserted, An elastic locking portion provided on the insertion portion, for removably locking the step portion provided at the tip of the inserted guide projection;
A screw hole provided at the back of the insertion portion and screwed with the screw provided at the tip of the inserted connecting member. According to the present invention, since the elastic projection is provided on the insertion portion into which the guide projection or the connecting member of the external device is inserted, the same operation and effect as the invention according to claim 1 can be obtained. In the external device having a connecting member provided with a threaded portion at the tip, the tip of the connecting member is inserted into the insertion portion and the connecting member is turned, so that the threaded portion at the tip is screwed. The external device can be screwed into the hole, so that even an external device having a connecting member provided with a screw portion at the tip can be commonly used without requiring a large mounting space.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG.
1 is an external perspective view of an electronic device. The electronic device 1 is portable, such as a mobile device, and includes a device main body 2. The device body 2 includes an upper case 3a and a lower case 3
b. On the upper surface of the device main body 2, a display unit 4 composed of a flat display such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or an electroluminescence display is provided, and various key switches 5 such as power supply and mode switching are provided. Have been. Also, on the front side of the device body 2,
A connection unit 6 is provided for commonly connecting to various external devices described below. In this case, as the various external devices, for example, a connection device 7 of a personal computer (FIG. 4)
), A modem 8 (see FIG. 6), a battery pack 9 (see FIG. 8), and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the connecting portion 6 includes a device-side connector 10 and a first guide portion 11 provided on the right side thereof.
And a second guide portion 12 provided on the right side of the device-side connector 10. The first guide portion 11 on the right side is provided at a position lower than the center of the device-side connector 10, and the second guide portion 12 on the left side. Is provided at a position higher than the center of the device-side connector 10, thereby preventing connection to the external devices 7 to 9 in the reverse direction.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the first guide portion 11 has an insertion hole 13 provided on a side surface of the device main body 2 and an insertion hole provided in the device main body 2 corresponding to the insertion hole 13. It is composed of a tube portion 14 and a spring member (elastic locking portion) 15 attached to the insertion tube portion 14. Insertion hole 13
The insertion cylinder 14 is provided on a tapered guide pin (guide protrusion) 16 provided on the connection device 7 of the personal computer shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 or on the modem 8 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. A guide pin (guide protrusion) 17 having a step 18 is inserted into the provided tip. As shown in FIG. 3, the spring member 15 is formed by bending a single wire into a substantially U-shape.
As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the opposed portions 15 a are respectively attached to notches 14 a provided in the insertion tube portion 14,
As a result, the facing portion 15a protrudes into the insertion tube portion 14, and this protruding portion elastically locks the stepped portion 18 of the inserted guide pin 17 as shown in FIG. Thus, the guide pin 17 is configured to be locked.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the second guide portion 12 has an insertion hole 1 of the device main body 2 like the first guide portion 11.
3, an insertion tube portion 14 provided in the device main body 2 corresponding to the insertion hole 13, and a spring member 15 attached to the insertion tube portion 21. Is provided with a nut 20 provided at the end.
The insertion hole 13 and the insertion tube portion 14 are, like the first guide portion 11, provided with a tapered guide pin 16 provided on the connection device 7 of the personal computer or a guide pin having a step 18 at the tip provided on the modem 8. 17 or a screw rod (connecting member) 21 provided on the battery pack 9 is inserted. The nut 20 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a screw hole (screw hole) 2
0a is provided, and the center of the screw hole 20a is
9 is provided in the inner portion of the insertion tube portion 14 by insert molding in a state substantially coincident with the center axis of the insertion tube portion 14.
As shown in the figure, the screw portion 2 at the tip of the inserted screw rod 21
2 is screwed into the screw hole 20a.

Next, the case where such an electronic device 1 is connected to an external device such as a personal computer among various external devices will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. An external device such as a personal computer is a dedicated connection device 7 for mounting and connecting the electronic device 1.
And the connection device 7 is electrically connected via a cable 25. The connection device 7 is provided with a mounting portion 26 on which the device main body 2 of the electronic device 1 is placed obliquely. The bottom of the mounting portion 26 is inclined so as to become lower toward the back. The bottom has an external connector 27 and a guide pin 1 having a tapered tip on both sides thereof.
6 are provided at an angle. For convenience of explanation, the connection device 7 is hereinafter referred to as an external device 7.

When connecting the external device 7 to the electronic device 1, the connecting portion 6 of the device main body 2 faces downward,
The device main body 2 is mounted on the mounting portion 26 of the external device 7 from obliquely above. At this time, the tips of the two guide pins 16 provided on the mounting portion 26 of the external device 7 are inserted into the insertion holes 13 and the insertion tube portions 14 of the first and second guide portions 11 and 12 of the device main body 2. The external connector 27 of the external device 7 is connected to the device-side connector 10 of the device main body 2 by performing the guiding. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5A and FIG.
The spring member 1 protrudes through each insertion hole 13 of the first and second guide portions 11 and 12 of the device main body 2 and protrudes into each insertion tube portion 14.
5 without contacting the opposing portion 15a of each insertion tube portion 14.
And the external connector 27 and the device connector 1
0 is connected to the external device 7
It is mounted on the mounting portion 26 in an obliquely upright state.

Next, a case where the electronic device 1 is connected to an external device 8 such as a modem will be described with reference to FIGS. The external device 8 such as a modem is for converting a digital signal and an analog signal to each other and transmitting and receiving the signal via a telephone line or the like, and is connected to a telephone line or the like by a cable 30. The external device 8 is formed smaller in size than the device main body 2 of the electronic device 1, and has an external connector 31 on one side and guide pins 17 protruding on both sides thereof. In this case, a step 18 is provided at the tip of each guide pin 17.
Are provided, and each stepped portion 18 is formed with a tapered surface on both side surfaces. In addition, the guide pin 17 corresponding to the second guide portion 12 is formed shorter than the guide pin 17 corresponding to the first guide portion 11, and is configured such that its tip does not contact the nut 20 of the second guide portion 12. Have been.

When connecting the external device 8 to the electronic device 1, one side surface of the external device 8 and the connecting portion 6 of the electronic device 1 are opposed to each other. 17 are connected to the first and second guide portions 11, 1 of the device main body 2.
2 is guided while being inserted into each of the insertion holes 13 and each of the insertion tube portions 14 so that the external connector 3 of the external device 8 is
1 and the device-side connector 10 of the device body 2 are connected. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, since the facing portion 15a of the spring member 15 projects into each insertion tube portion 14, the tip of the guide pin 17 is inserted into the insertion tube portion 1.
4, the step 18 at the tip pushes and spreads over the opposing portion 15 a of the spring member 15 by the tapered surfaces on both sides thereof, whereby the opposing portion 15 a of the spring member 15 elastically moves over the step 18. The guide pin 17 is locked by locking. For this reason, the external device 8 and the electronic device 1 are reliably connected so as not to come off without permission. When the external device 8 and the electronic device 1 are detached, the guide pin 17 is connected to the first and second guide portions 11 and 1 against the spring force of the spring member 15.
By pulling the guide pin 17 out of the electronic device 1, the lock of the guide pin 17 can be released.

Next, a case where the electronic apparatus 1 is connected to an external device 9 such as a battery pack will be described with reference to FIGS. The external device 9 such as a battery pack supplies power to the electronic device 1 and has a structure that is heavier than the external device 8 such as the electronic device 1 or a modem. For this reason, the external device 9 has an external connector 32 on one side surface and a guide pin 17 on one end thereof in the same manner as the external device 8 such as a modem. Screw rod 2 on the side
1 is rotatably mounted. In this case, the distal end of the screw rod 21 is inserted into the insertion tube portion 14 of the second guide portion 12, and the nut 20 is attached to the distal end on the insertion side.
A screw portion 22 that is screwed into the screw hole 20a is provided, the other end protrudes rearward of the external device 9, and an operation knob 21a is provided at the protruding portion.

When connecting the external device 9 and the electronic device 1, one side surface of the external device 9 and the connecting portion 6 of the electronic device 1 are opposed to each other. The rod 21 is connected to the first and second guide portions 11 and 1 of the device main body 2.
2 is guided while being inserted into each of the insertion holes 13 and each of the insertion tube portions 14, so that the external connector 3 of the external device 9 is formed.
2 and the device-side connector 10 of the device body 2 are made connectable. At this time, the tip of the threaded rod 21 is inserted into the insertion tube part 14 of the second guide part 12 and corresponds to the threaded hole 20a of the nut 20.
By turning the operation knob 21a, the screw portion 22 at the tip of the screw rod 21 can be screwed into the screw hole 20a of the nut 20, as shown in FIG.

As a result, the external connector 32 of the external device 9 and the device connector 10 of the device body 2 are connected, and as shown in FIG. The opposing portion 15a of the spring member 15 is pushed and spread over, and thereby the opposing portion 15a of the spring member 15 is
“a” elastically locks the step 18 to lock the guide pin 17. In this case, since the screw portion 22 of the screw rod 21 is screwed into the screw hole 20a of the nut 20, unless the operation knob 21a is used to turn the screw rod 21, the electronic device 1
Since the electronic device 1 and the external device 9 cannot be removed, the electronic device 1 and the external device 9 can be reliably and firmly connected.

As described above, in the electronic apparatus 1, the guide pins 16, 17 or the screw rods 2 of the various external devices 7 to 9 are provided.
The first and second guide portions 1 are formed by an insertion tube portion 14 through which the insertion portion 1 is inserted through the insertion hole 13 and a spring member 15 provided in the insertion tube portion 14 and having an opposing portion 15a protruding therein.
1 and 12, and the nut 20 is provided at the back of the insertion tube portion 14 of the second guide portion 12.
At the time of connection with an external device 7 such as a personal computer, the tapered guide pin 16 is directly connected to each insertion tube portion 14.
When connecting to an external device 8 such as a modem, a guide pin 17 having a stepped portion 18 at the end is inserted into each insertion tube portion 14, and the stepped portion 18 at the end is inserted. Can be elastically locked and locked by the opposing portion 15a of the spring member 15, and when connected to an external device 9 such as a battery pack, a rotatable screw provided with a screw portion 22 at the end is provided. The screw rod 21 can be inserted into the insertion tube part 14 to screw the tip screw part 22 into the screw hole 20 a of the nut 20, so that it can be commonly used for different types of external devices 7 to 9. Can be.

In the electronic device 1, each external device 7
By providing a spring member 15 for elastically engaging and disengaging the stepped portion 18 of the guide pin 17 on the insertion cylinder portion 14 into which the guide pins 16 and 17 or the screw rod 21 of FIGS. 2 constitute the guide portions 11 and 12, and
Since the nut 20 is provided in the inner part of the insertion tube part 14 of the guide part 12, the structure is simple, no large mounting space is required, the size of the whole apparatus can be reduced, and the spring member 15 Step 1 of guide pin 17
8 can be elastically locked and locked, and the lock can be released by pulling out the guide pin 17 against the spring force of the spring member 15. Since the threaded portion 22 of the threaded rod 21 can be screwed together, the external device 9 of the screw type does not require a large mounting space, and can be used in common by reducing the size of the entire device.

In the above embodiment, the spring member 15 is formed by bending a single wire into a substantially U-shape as the elastic locking portion.
The spring member 15 is inserted into the notch 1
4a, and two opposite portions of the step portion 18 of the guide pin 17 are locked by the opposing portion 15a. However, the present invention is not limited to this. One wire is bent substantially in a ring shape and the plurality of portions (three portions) are bent. Above) toward the center, and the stepped portion 18 of the guide pin 17 may be locked at a plurality of three or more protruding portions, and the spring member 15 is a single wire. There is no need to use a plurality of wires, and the elastic locking portion does not necessarily need to be a spring member, but may use an elastic member such as rubber.

Further, in the above embodiment, of the first and second guide portions 11 and 12, the insertion tube portion 1 of the second guide portion 12 is provided.
Although the nut 20 is provided only at the back of the nut 4, it is not limited to this.
A nut 20 may be provided at the inner part of both the insertion tube parts 14 of the first and second guide parts 11 and 12. In this manner, the two screw rods 2 are attached to the external device 9 such as a battery pack.
Even if 1 is provided, each screw portion 22 of the screw rod 21 can be screwed into the screw hole 20a of each nut 20.

Further, in the above embodiment, the external device 9 such as a battery pack has been described as the screw type external device. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an external device having a receiving function such as a pager, or a simple portable telephone (PHS) or other external device having a transmission / reception function may be used, and the external device 8 such as a modem has been described as an external device requiring a lock function. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
An external device having a receiving function, such as a pager, or an external device having a transmitting / receiving function, such as a portable telephone (PHS), may be used.

[0024]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there are two types of external devices having a tapered guide projection or an external device having a guide projection having a step at the tip. Since the insertion portion into which the guide projections of these external devices are inserted is provided with an elastic locking portion that removably locks the step at the tip of the guide projection, for example, in an external device having a tapered guide projection, The guide projection can be inserted directly into the insertion portion of the device main body, and in an external device having a guide projection provided with a step at the tip, the tip of the guide projection is inserted into the insertion portion so that the tip of the tip can be inserted. The step portion can be elastically locked and locked by the elastic locking portion, so that it can be used in common for different types of external devices, and furthermore, only the elastic locking portion is provided in the insertion portion. Because there, the structure is simple, reliable may removably operability with can be locked, without requiring a large installation space, it is possible to achieve also the overall size of the device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, an external device having a tapered guide projection, an external device having a guide projection provided with a step at its tip, or a rotary device provided with a screw at its tip is provided. In the three types of external devices having a flexible connecting member, an elastic locking portion is provided on a guide projection of the external device or an insertion portion into which the connecting member is inserted, so that the same operation and effect as the invention of claim 1 can be obtained. In addition,
In particular, since the screw hole is provided at the back of the insertion portion, in an external device having a connection member provided with a screw portion at the tip, the screw portion of the connection member is inserted into the insertion portion and screwed into the screw hole portion. Therefore, even an external device having a connecting member provided with a screw portion at the tip can be commonly used without requiring a large mounting space.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of an electronic apparatus of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are enlarged cross-sectional views of a main part of FIG. 1; FIG. 2A is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the spring member of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view when the electronic apparatus of FIG. 1 is connected to an external device such as a personal computer.

5A and 5B show a connection state between the electronic device and an external device in FIG. 4, where FIG. 5A is an enlarged sectional view corresponding to FIG.
FIG. 2B is an enlarged sectional view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 6 is an external perspective view showing a main part when the electronic apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is connected to an external device such as a modem.

7A and 7B show a connection state between an electronic device and an external device in FIG. 6, where FIG. 7A is an enlarged sectional view corresponding to FIG.
FIG. 2B is an enlarged sectional view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 8 is an external perspective view showing a main part when the electronic apparatus of FIG. 1 is connected to an external device such as a battery pack.

9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2B and showing a connection state between the electronic device and the external device in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic device 2 Device main body 7-9 External device 11 1st guide part 12 2nd guide part 14 Insertion tube part 15 Spring member 16, 17 Guide pin 18 Step part of guide pin 20 Nut 20a Screw hole 21 Screw rod 22 Screw part

Claims (3)

[Claims] An apparatus main body detachably connected to an external device having a tapered guide projection or an external apparatus having a guide projection provided with a stepped portion at a tip thereof, and a device main body provided on the device main body. An insertion portion into which the guide projections of the two types of external devices are inserted, and an elastic engagement provided in the insertion portion and removably engaging the step provided at the tip of the inserted guide projection. An electronic device comprising: a stop portion. 2. An external device having a tapered guide projection, an external device having a guide projection provided with a step at its tip, or an external device having a rotatable connecting member provided with a screw at its tip. A device main body detachably connected to the type, an insertion portion provided on the device main body, for inserting the guide protrusion or the connecting member of the three types of external devices, and an insertion portion provided on the insertion portion and inserted. An elastic locking portion provided at the tip of the guide protrusion for locking and releasable locking the step portion; provided at the back of the insertion portion, provided at the tip of the inserted connecting member. An electronic device, comprising: a screw hole into which a screw portion is screwed. 3. The elastic locking portion is formed by bending a wire rod, and a plurality of portions thereof releasably lock the step portion provided at the tip of the guide projection. Or the electronic device according to 2.