JPH113140A - Notebook type information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the reduction of operation or operability at an external storage device concerning a notebook personal computer, for which a main body part is made thin, when the main body part is used while being inclined for improve keyboard operability. SOLUTION: Concerning the notebook personal computer composed of a main body part 1 having a keyboard 4, CD-ROM drive 6 and external interface connector 7 or the like and a display part 2, the main body part 1 is composed of an upper casing 12 and a lower casing 11, and the lower casing 11 is linked to the upper casing 12 at the position of its front face by a hinge 14 so as to be turned in the thicknesswise direction of main body part. At the same time, the CD-ROM drive 6 is arranged on the front face of lower casing and the external interface connector 7 is arranged on its rear face. Since the lower casing 11 is placed on the upper surface of desk while being protruded on the base side of upper casing 12, the upper casing 12 is inclined forward and the operability of keyboard 4 is improved. Besides, since the lower casing 11 is equipped with the CD-ROM drive 6, its action is not damaged and since the lower casing 11 is arranged with the external interface connector 7, any connector is not exposed in the case of no use so that its beautiful appearance can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a notebook type information processing apparatus (hereinafter, simply referred to as an apparatus) such as a notebook type personal computer or a word processor, and more particularly to a structure of a housing thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, this type of device has been reduced in thickness due to higher integration of semiconductor devices, smaller size and higher capacity of batteries, and on the other hand, due to demand for portability.
In particular, the main body on which the keyboard is provided is reduced to a minimum thickness dimension specified by an external storage device such as a floppy disk drive (FDD) or a CD-ROM drive. Further, in order to enhance the operability of these drives, there has been proposed a drive in which these drives are arranged from the side of the conventional apparatus main body to the front of the main body. In order to effectively use the space in such a thin device, for example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-114624, the keyboard is lifted up and a CD-ROM arranged below the keyboard is arranged. A technique for exposing a ROM drive has also been proposed.

[0003]

When actually using such a thin device, the main body provided with the keyboard is slightly inclined toward the front side due to the operability of the keyboard. It is preferable that For example, a foot portion may be provided on the rear side of the bottom surface of the main body, and the main body may be slightly inclined forward when the apparatus is placed on a desk or the like. However, when the main body is tilted forward as described above, the C disposed at the front position of the main body is
When the tray of the D-ROM drive is pulled out from the main body, the tip of the tray is easily brought into contact with the desk surface, and the
-The normal operation of the ROM drive may be impaired.

For this reason, a structure in which only the keyboard is inclined with respect to the main body has been considered. However, in this case, the inclination of the keyboard is different from that of a pointing device arranged in front of the keyboard of the main body. However, there arises a problem that the operability at the time of simultaneously using is deteriorated.

Further, in this type of conventional device, an external interface connector having many projections is disposed on the rear surface or side surface of the main body, so that this connector is exposed to the outside even when the device is not in use. There are also problems that the appearance of the device is impaired and the connector is easily damaged.

An object of the present invention is to provide a notebook type information processing apparatus capable of improving the operability of a keyboard without lowering the normal operation of an external storage device or the like and the operability of a pointing device. Another object of the present invention is to provide a notebook-type information processing apparatus capable of preventing the external interface connector from being exposed when not in use and improving the appearance and preventing the connector from being damaged.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a keyboard,
In a notebook information processing device including a main unit having an external storage device, an external interface connector, and a display unit, the main unit includes an upper housing and a lower housing, and the lower housing includes the upper housing and the lower housing. The upper housing is configured to protrude from the bottom side. Here, the lower housing is rotatably connected to the upper housing in a thickness direction of the main body at a front portion thereof, and the external storage device is disposed on a front surface of the lower housing. You. The lower housing is configured so that at least a rear surface thereof is exposed when protruding from the upper housing, and an external interface connector is provided on the rear surface. further,
The keyboard is provided on the upper surface of the upper housing, and when the lower housing is projected and the bottom surface of the lower housing is placed on the desk surface, the keyboard is moved forward with respect to the desk upper surface. It is configured to be in a state inclined toward.

[0008] By mounting the lower housing on the desk surface with the lower housing protruding toward the bottom surface of the upper housing, the upper housing is inclined forward and the operability of the keyboard is improved. Further, by providing the external storage device in the lower housing, the operation of the external storage device is not hindered. Furthermore, by arranging an external interface connector on the lower housing,
When not in use, the connector is not exposed, thereby preventing the appearance from being deteriorated.

[0009]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B are an external perspective view and a side view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a notebook personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a notebook computer). This notebook computer has a thin main body 1.
And a display unit 2 which can be opened and closed by being connected to the body unit 1 with a hinge 3. As the display unit 2, a liquid crystal display device or a plasma display device is used. A keyboard 4 is provided on the upper surface of the main body 1, and a pointing device 5 is provided at a front position thereof.

FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are a perspective view and a bottom view of the main body 1 as viewed from the bottom side, and the main body 1 is composed of a lower housing 11 and an upper housing 12. I have. That is, the upper housing 12 is configured as a thin rectangular container constituting the main body portion 1, and the bottom surface thereof has a T-shaped recess in which the width of the front side is smaller than that of the rear side. 13 are formed. Then, the lower housing 12
Is configured as a thin container having a T-shaped planar shape corresponding to the T-shaped recess 13, and the lower housing 11 can be accommodated in the recess 13 of the upper housing 12. The lower housing 11 and the upper housing 12 are joined by a hinge 14 at an end on the front side.
The lower housing 11 is configured to be rotatable relative to the upper housing 12 at a small angle in the thickness direction of the main body 1 around the fulcrum 4. Although a mechanism for regulating the amount of rotation of the lower housing 11 and a mechanism for locking the lower housing 11 at the rotated position are provided, the description thereof is omitted here. .

Further, the display unit 2 is connected to the upper housing 12 by the hinge 3 at a position on the rear side, and the keyboard 4 and the pointing device 5 are mounted on the upper surface of the upper housing 12. Are located. On the other hand, here, as an external storage device, a CD is used.
The ROM drive 6 is provided on the front surface of the lower housing 11, and the external interface connector 7 is provided on the rear surface of the lower housing 11. The semiconductor devices and various circuit components provided inside the main body 1 are appropriately distributed and housed in one of the lower housing 11 and the upper housing 12.

According to the notebook personal computer having this configuration, the lower housing 1 is used when not in use or when the CD-ROM drive 6 and the external interface connector 7 are not used.
By storing 1 in the recess 13 of the upper housing 12,
As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the main body 1 is configured as a single thin case, and can be handled in exactly the same manner as a conventional notebook personal computer. However, on the other hand, the external interface connector 7 provided on the rear surface of the lower housing 11 is housed in the recess 13 of the upper housing 12 together with the lower housing 11,
It is not exposed to the outside. As a result, the appearance of the notebook computer is enhanced, and the connector 7 is prevented from being damaged.

On the other hand, when a notebook computer is used by using the CD-ROM drive 6 or the external interface connector 7, as shown in the external perspective view and the side view in FIGS. The body 11 is pivoted downward at a small angle with the hinge 14 as a fulcrum, and the lower housing 11 is
2 and is protruded below the bottom surface of the upper housing 12. When the bottom surface of the lower housing 11 is placed on a horizontal desk surface in this state, the upper housing 12 is inclined forward by an angle at which the lower housing 11 is rotated. Thereby, the upper surface of the main body 1 is inclined, and the operability of the keyboard 4 is improved. Further, since the entire upper housing 12 is inclined, the pointing device 5 is also located on the same plane as the keyboard 4, so that their operability is not reduced.

Even if the upper housing 12 is tilted as described above, the lower housing 11 is in a horizontal state parallel to the desk surface, and therefore, the CD-ROM drive 6 disposed on the front surface thereof.
Even if the tray 6a is projected, the tray 6a is projected in a direction parallel to the desk surface, so that the tray 6a does not come into contact with the desk surface, and the normal operation of the CD-ROM drive 6 can be ensured. Further, in this state, as shown in FIG. 4, the rear surface of the lower housing 11 is exposed at a lower position of the upper housing 12, so that the external interface connector 7 disposed on this rear surface is exposed. As a result, it is possible to connect a connector to a necessary external device.

Here, in the above-described embodiment, C is attached to the lower housing.
Although an example in which a D-ROM drive is provided is shown, a floppy disk drive, a drive for an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk, or a PC card slot may be provided instead. In the case of these drives and slots, it is necessary to insert and remove cartridges and cards into and out of the drives and slots, but even in this case, since the lower housing is parallel to the desk top surface, it is preferable to insert and remove them. Can be performed.

Various interfaces can be provided on the side surface of the lower housing. Further, by linking the lower housing to the upper housing, the upper housing can be supported on the lower housing with a gap in use, so that the main body can be thinned. Even in this case, the keyboard height can be increased, and the keyboard operation can be improved.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, a main body having a keyboard, an external storage device, an external interface connector and the like is constituted by an upper housing and a lower housing, and the lower housing is formed by the upper housing. Since the lower housing is configured to protrude to the bottom side, the lower housing is rotated in the thickness direction of the main body with respect to the upper housing to protrude, and is mounted on the desk top surface, so that the upper housing is Is inclined forward, and the operability of the keyboard is improved. In addition, by providing the external storage device in the lower housing, the operation of the external storage device is not obstructed. Further, by providing the external interface connector in the lower housing, the connector is exposed when not in use. This has the effect of improving the aesthetic appearance without the need for any additional work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view and a side view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a notebook computer.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view and a bottom view of the bottom surface side of the notebook computer of FIG. 1;

3A and 3B are an external perspective view and a side view of the use state of the notebook computer of FIG. 1;

4 is a perspective view of the rear side of the notebook computer in the use state of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body part 2 Display part 3 Hinge 4 Keyboard 5 Pointing device 6 CD-ROM drive 7 External interface connector 11 Lower housing 12 Upper housing 13 Depression 14 Hinge

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A notebook-type information processing apparatus comprising a main body having a keyboard, an external storage device, an external interface connector, and the like, and a display, wherein the main body comprises an upper housing and a lower housing. A notebook-type information processing apparatus, wherein the lower housing is configured to protrude toward a bottom surface of the upper housing. 2. The lower housing is connected to the upper housing so as to be rotatable in a thickness direction of a main body at a front portion thereof, and the external storage device is disposed on a front surface of the lower housing. The notebook information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notebook information processing apparatus is provided. 3. The lower housing is configured such that at least a rear surface thereof is exposed when protruding from the upper housing, and an external interface connector is provided on the rear surface. 3. The notebook information processing device according to 1 or 2. 4. The keyboard is provided on an upper surface of the upper housing, and when the lower housing is projected and the bottom surface of the lower housing is placed on a desk surface, the keyboard is placed on the desk. 4. The notebook information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the notebook information processing device is configured to be inclined forward with respect to the upper surface.