KR100745801B1 - A latch device for portable computer - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a latch device of a portable computer. The present invention relates to a portable computer in which the display unit 130 is overlapped and unfolded with respect to the hinge unit 128 with respect to the main body unit 120. Protruding to the front end of the display unit 130 at both ends of the 161 is provided with a hook 164 that is selectively walked on one side of the main body 120, the movement guide unit (168) is formed therein ( 166 is provided, the latch 160 is installed in a linear motion inside the display unit 130, and integrally provided in the latch body 161 and one side is exposed to the outside of the display 130, the user Including an operation knob 190 to receive the operating force of the, and the restoring member 180 for providing a force for moving the latch body 161 in the direction in which the hook 164 is fastened to the main body portion 120, It is composed. According to the present invention, the configuration of the latch device for fastening between the display unit 130 and the main body unit 120 is relatively simplified, there is an advantage that the required space for installing the latch inside the display unit is minimized. .

Portable Computer, Latch, Operation Knob, All

Description

A latch device for portable computer

1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a portable computer according to the prior art.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the main configuration of a portable computer employing a latch device according to the present invention.

3 is a plan view showing the main configuration of the embodiment of the present invention.

4A is a front view showing a latch constituting an embodiment of the present invention.

4B is a plan view showing a latch constituting an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is an operational state diagram showing that the embodiment of the present invention is operated.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

120: main body 122: keyboard

126: hanger groove 128: hinge portion

130: display unit 131: rear case

132: front case 133: liquid crystal panel

140: antenna cover 142: recessed groove

144: knob shift slot 150: fastening boss

152: restoring member support 154: guide slot

160: latch 161: latch body                 

164: hook 165: restoring member hanger

165 ': hanger penetration 165s: hanger rod

166: movement guide 168: guide slot

170: interference avoiding portion 180: restoring member

190: operation knob 192: connection neck

The present invention relates to a portable computer, and more particularly, to a latch device for coupling the main body portion and the display portion to each other in a state in which the display portion overlaps the main body portion.

1 is a perspective view of a portable computer according to the prior art. As shown in the drawing, the portable computer is installed such that the display unit 3 is rotated around the hinge unit 5 at the rear end of the main body unit 1 having a substantially flat rectangular shape.

The display unit 3 is configured in a plate shape corresponding to the main body unit 1, and is mounted to overlap the upper surface of the main body unit 1 during storage or carrying. In use, the display 3 is unfolded at a predetermined angle with respect to the main body 1 as shown in FIG. 1.

The main board and the like constituting the portable computer are provided inside the main body 1, and a keyboard 7 is provided on the upper surface thereof. The keyboard 7 is a part in which a user inputs desired information by pressing a key. The display unit 3 includes a liquid crystal panel 9. The liquid crystal panel 9 is a portion for displaying various kinds of information.

A latch device 10 is provided to allow the display unit 3 and the main body unit 1 to be coupled to each other when the display unit 3 overlaps the main body unit 1 and is stored or carried. The latch device 10 is provided at a portion corresponding to the front end of the rear case 11 and the front case 12 constituting the appearance of the display unit 3. The latch device 10 is provided with an appropriate number according to the width of the display unit (3).

Here, the rear case 11 is a portion forming the rear surface of the display unit 3, and the front case 12 forms a front edge of the display unit 3. The front case 12 has a quadrangular shape to shield and support the edge of the liquid crystal panel 9 of the display unit 3.

In the space formed between the rear case 11 and the front case 12, components such as a latch constituting the latch device 10 are provided. That is, a latch (not shown) is provided in the space between the rear case 11 and the front case 12 so that the hook 14 protrudes toward the front end of the front case 12. The hook 14 is selectively hooked to a hook groove 1 'formed at the top end of the main body 1. The manipulation knob 13 for operating the hook 14 is exposed to a portion corresponding to the tip of the display unit 3.

However, the prior art as described above has the following problems.

That is, the latch device 10 is generally provided separately in two places. As the latch device 10 is separately provided as described above, when the user unfolds the display unit 3 from the main body unit 1, the operation knobs 13 provided on the latch device 10 on both sides using both hands are respectively provided. Must be operated. Therefore, when unfolding the display portion 3 from the main body portion 1, it is difficult to fix the main body portion 1. In general, there is an inconvenience in that the thumb of the main body 1 is fixed by manipulating the manipulation knob 13 with each thumb and using some of the other fingers.

In order to solve the above problem, a latch device having two hooks is provided so that the latch can be operated by one operation knob. However, as the display unit 3 increases in size, the length of the latch becomes relatively long, so that the hook does not catch the hook groove accurately while bending occurs, thereby causing a gap between the main body 1 and the display unit 3. There is a problem.

In addition, as the latch becomes relatively long, it occupies a lot of space in the display unit 3, and thus there is a problem in that the utilization of the internal space of the display unit 3 is relatively inferior.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and the coupling between the main body portion and the display portion is more robust and reliable while the latch device is relatively easy to operate in a relatively large portable computer. To make it happen.

Another object of the present invention is to minimize the space required for the installation of the latch in a configuration for operating a latch provided with a plurality of hooks with one operation knob.                         

Still another object of the present invention is to simplify the number of parts constituting the latch device.

According to a feature of the present invention for achieving the object as described above, the present invention is a portable computer which is operated to overlap and unfold the display portion centering on the hinge portion relative to the main body portion, having a latch body having a predetermined length A latch protruding to the front end of the display body on both ends of the latch body and having a hook to be selectively walked on one side of the main body, and having a movement guide formed therein to form a guide slot therein, the latch being installed linearly in the display unit; An operation knob provided integrally with the latch body and exposed to one side to the outside of the display unit to receive a user's operation force, and a restoring member providing a force for moving the latch body in the direction in which the hook body is fastened to the main body; It is configured to include, through one side of the latch body The restoring member is provided with a restoring member hanger for installing the restoring member, the guide slot of the movement guide portion is provided with a fastening boss for coupling the rear case and the front case constituting the appearance of the display unit to guide the movement of the latch and the installation position And the manipulation knob is seated in a space formed by recesses formed in the rear case and the front case, respectively, which form the exterior of the display unit. A knob movement slot is formed in the recess groove by the combination of the rear case and the front case. Is formed.

At least two movement guide parts are provided on the latch body.

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The restoring member hanger part includes a hook through part formed through the latch body, and a hook rod extending through the latch body by a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction of the latch body and into which the restoring member is inserted.

The inner surface of the rear case is formed with a restoring member support for supporting one end of the restoring member to be located at one end of the restoring member hanger, wherein the restoring member support has a guide slot through which the hook rod passes as the latch body moves. Is formed.

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An antenna cover is formed at the front end of the rear case so that the recessed groove is formed in the antenna cover.

The rear case or the antenna cover is provided with a protruding piece forming one end of the knob movement slot to perform the temporary assembly of the latch.

According to the present invention having such a configuration, the configuration of the latch device for fastening between the display unit and the main body unit in the portable computer is relatively simplified, there is an advantage that the space required for installing the latch inside the display unit is minimized.

2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a portable computer employing a preferred embodiment of the latch device according to the present invention.

As shown in these figures, the main body 120 of the portable computer is flat in a substantially rectangular plate shape, and various components are provided therein. The keyboard 122 is provided on an upper surface of the main body 120. The touch pad 124, which is a pointing device, is provided at the central front end of the main body 120.

Hanging grooves 126 are provided at both ends of the upper surface of the main body 120. The hook groove 126 is a portion on which the hook 164 for fastening the main body 120 and the display 130 is hooked.

The rear end of the main body 120, the hinge portion 128 is connected to the display 130 is rotatable. The display 130 is overlapped with the main body 120 around the hinge 128 or unfolded at a predetermined angle.

In the display unit 130, the rear case 131 and the front case 132 form an appearance. The rear case 131 forms a rear surface of the display unit 130, and the front case 132 forms a front edge of the display unit 130 in a quadrangular shape. The rear case 131 is preferably formed of a synthetic resin material rather than a metal material in this embodiment, and the inner surface is provided with a metal plate on the remaining portion except for a part of the tip.

 The liquid crystal panel 133 is provided inside the display unit 130 such that the edge is shielded by the front case 132. The liquid crystal panel 133 is a portion for displaying image information. Various display panels may be used instead of the liquid crystal panel 133.

A curved surface having a predetermined width is formed toward the rear case 131 that surrounds the edge of the front case 132. As shown in FIG. 3, a recess groove (in the center of the front end of the front case 132) is formed. 134 is formed. One side of the concave groove 134 is provided with a doped slot 135. The escape slot 135 is mounted with a protrusion 143 to be described below.

The front case 132 may have a plurality of hook shapes for temporarily assembling with the rear case 131. A plurality of fastening holes 136 are fastened to the front case 132 to fasten the front case 132 to the rear case 131. Hook slots 138 are perforated at the front end of the front case 132. Through the hook slot 138, the hook 164 of the latch 160 to be described below protrudes. The hook slot 138 is preferably formed at a position adjacent to both ends of the front case 132.

The front end inner surface of the rear case 131 is provided with a configuration for guiding the installation and movement of the latch 160 to be described below. First, the antenna cover 140 is installed at the leading edge of the rear case 131. A predetermined curved surface is formed on the antenna cover 140 toward the front case 132, and the curved surface of the antenna cover 140 and the curved surface of the front case 132 cooperate with each other to form a front end surface of the display unit 130. To form. For reference, the antenna cover 140 may be integrally formed with the rear case 131 itself. However, in this embodiment, the antenna cover 140 is formed separately from the rear case 131, and the antenna cover 140 is coupled to the rear case 131 to form a part of the rear case 131.

The antenna cover 140 has a recess groove 142 formed at a position corresponding to the recess groove 134 of the front case 132. Protruding pieces 143 are formed to protrude from one side of the concave groove 142 is formed. The protruding piece 143 is located in the escape slot 135 of the front case 132. The protruding piece 143 forms one end of the knob movement slot 144 to be described below, and latches the connecting neck 192 of the operation knob 190 during assembly of the latch 160 to be described below. 160) to be temporarily assembled.

When the concave groove 134 of the front case 132 and the concave groove 142 of the antenna cover 140 are coupled to each other to form a groove on which the operation knob 190 to be described below is seated. In addition, some of the recessed grooves 134 and 142 of the front case 132 and the antenna cover 140 are relatively less protruded, and the front case 132 and the antenna cover 140 are coupled to the knob. The moving slot 144 is formed. The protrusion piece 143 forms a part of the front case 132 side of the knob movement slot 144.

A plurality of fastening bosses 150 are provided on the inner surface of the front end of the rear case 131. The fastening boss 150 is formed at a position corresponding to the fastening hole 136 of the front case 132. The fastening hole 150 is provided with a screw portion formed therein penetrating the center of the fastening boss 150 up and down.

Restoration member support 152 is formed on the inner surface of the front end of the rear case 131. Guide slots 154 are formed in the restoring member support 152. The guide slot 154 is formed through the restoring member support 152, and is open to an upper end of the restoring member support 152.

The latch body 161 constituting the latch 160 has a bar shape having a long length. The latch body 161 has at least a length corresponding to the distance between the hook slots 138 of the front case 132. The latch body 161 is formed in a plate shape having a narrow width and a long length.

Hooks 164 are formed at both ends of the latch body 161. The front end of the hook 164 protrudes a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction of the latch body 161 and is selectively hooked to the hook groove 126 of the main body 120. The hook 164 is preferably formed at a position adjacent to both ends of the latch body 161.

One end of the latch body 161 has a restoring member hanger 165 is formed. One end of the restoring member 180 to be described below is hooked to the restoring member hanger 165 to act on the latch body 161. The restoring member hook portion 165 has a hook rod 165s formed in a lengthwise direction of the latch body 161 on the hook through portion 165 'formed through the latch body 161. The hook rod 165s is shorter in length than the length of the hook through portion 165 '.

The latch body 161 is formed with at least two movement guides 166. The movement guide portion 166 is formed in the middle of the latch body 161, the guide slot 168 is formed to penetrate the inside up and down. The fastening boss 150 is positioned inside the guide slot 168. Therefore, the movement of the latch 160 is guided by the guide slot 168 and the fastening boss 150. To this end, the guide slot 168 is formed relatively longer than the diameter of the fastening boss 150, so that the hook 164 can generate the stroke required to be hooked and terminated in the hook groove 126.                     

The latch body 161 is provided with a plurality of interference avoiding portion 170 to prevent the interference with the components around the latch 160 is installed. The interference avoiding part 170 may be formed to penetrate the center of the latch body 161 and open to one side of the latch body 161.

Restoration member 180 serves to pull the latch 160 in one direction. The restoration member 180 is a compression coil spring is used. The restoration member 180 exerts an elastic force in a direction in which the hook 164 of the latch 160 is engaged with the hook groove 126 of the main body 120.

The manipulation knob 190 is a portion that receives a force for moving the latch 160. The manipulation knob 190 is formed integrally with the latch body 161 in this embodiment. A connection neck 192 is provided between the manipulation knob 190 and the latch body 161. The connecting neck 192 is a portion located in the knob movement slot 144. The surface of the operation knob is preferably provided with a configuration for preventing the slip.

The operation of the latch device of the portable computer according to the present invention having the configuration as described above will be described in detail.

In the present invention, the latch 160 is installed on the rear case 131 so that the fastening boss 150 is seated in the guide slot 168 of the movement guide 166, respectively. At this time, the operation knob 190 integrally formed in the latch body 161 is the recessed groove 142 in a state where a part of the connection neck 192 is walked by the protruding piece 143 of the antenna cover 140. Is seated on. Here, the protruding piece 143 serves to allow the latch body 161 to be temporarily assembled.

In addition, the latch 160 is provided with the restoration member 180 in the restoration member hanger 165 in advance. The restoration member 180 is in a state of being hooked to the hook rod 165s. One end of the restoration member 180 is supported by the restoration member support 152 in a state of being fitted to the hook rod 165s. The hook rods 165s are positioned in the guide slot 154 so that they do not interfere with the restoring member support 152 when the latch body 161 moves.

By doing so, the latch body 161 has a tendency to move in the opposite direction to the arrow of FIG. 5A, that is, the direction in which the hook 164 is engaged with the hook groove 126 by the elastic force of the restoring member 180. Have

Next, the front case 132 may be fastened to the rear case 131. At this time, the hook 164 should protrude through the hook slot 138. Of course, the rear case 131 after the installation of the various components forming the display unit 130 are all installed. The front case 132 is coupled to the rear case 131 by a screw is fastened to the fastening boss 150 through the fastening hole 136.

Next, the latch device of the present invention is operated. In the process of overlapping the display unit 130 with the main body 120, the tip of the hook 164 is guided along one side of the hook groove 126, so that the latch body 161 is provided with the restoring member 180. It is moved to the right with reference to Figure 5a while overcoming the elastic force of the).

And, when the hook 164 is completely hooked to the hook groove 126, the latch body 161 is moved to the original position by the restoring force of the restoring member 180, the main body 120 and The display unit 130 is fastened.

In this state, in order to release the coupling between the main body 120 and the display 130, the user may operate the manipulation knob 190. That is, the manipulation knob 190 is moved in the recessed grooves 134 and 142. When the manipulation knob 190 is moved, the latch 160 is moved together. The latch body 161 is fastening boss 150 is located in the guide slot 168 of the movement guide 166 is guided by the movement of these guides.

At this time, the latch body 161 is moved while overcoming the elastic force of the restoration member 180. By the movement of the latch body 161, the hook 164 is released from the fastening state to the hook groove 126. This state is shown in FIG. 5B.

Of course, the movement of the latch body 161 is simply the released state is not the hook ring 164 from the hook groove 126. That is, as the user rotates the display unit 130 about the hinge unit 128 with respect to the main body unit 120, the hook 164 is released from the hook groove 126.

Then, when the user removes the force applied to the operation knob 190, the latch body 161 is moved to the original position, that is, the position shown in Figure 5a by the restoring force of the restoring member 180.

The rights of the present invention are not limited to the embodiments described above, but are defined by the claims, and those skilled in the art can make various modifications and adaptations within the scope of the claims. It is self-evident.                     

For example, in this embodiment, the knob movement slot 144 for the movement of the operation knob 190 is formed by the front case 132 and the antenna cover 140, but this is not necessarily the case, the antenna cover ( When the configuration of the 140 is integrated into the rear case 131, a knob movement slot is formed by the rear case 131 and the front case 132.

In the latch device of the portable computer according to the present invention as described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained.

In the present invention, the latch device is configured to operate the latch body having two hooks with one operation knob. Therefore, the user can release the fastening state of the main body portion and the display portion with one hand, so that the operation is relatively convenient.

In the present invention, at least two movement guides are formed in the middle of the latch body, and the fastening boss of the rear case is seated on the guide slot formed in the movement guide to guide the movement of the latch body and at the same time the latch body is the rear case. So that it can be firmly positioned. Therefore, the length of the latch body can be made relatively long, so that hooks are placed at both ends of the relatively large display unit, thereby making it possible to more firmly fasten the main body unit and the display unit.

In the present invention, the restoring member for providing a restoring force to the latch is provided in the restoring member hanger formed through the latch. Therefore, the separate space is not required for installation of the restoring member, so that the space utilization inside the display unit can be efficiently utilized.                     

In addition, in the present invention, since the operation knob is integrally formed on the latch, the number of parts constituting the latch is simplified, thereby reducing the number of assembly operations, thereby reducing the overall manufacturing cost.

Claims (9)

A portable computer in which a display unit is overlapped and spread out around a hinge unit with respect to a main body unit, A latch body having a predetermined length is provided, and both ends of the latch body protrude toward the front end of the display unit, and the hook is selectively walked on one side of the main body unit, and a movement guide unit is formed therein. A latch installed in a linear motion inside, An operation knob provided integrally with the latch body and exposed to one side to the outside of the display unit to receive a user's operation force; It comprises a restoring member for providing a force for moving the latch body in the direction in which the hook is fastened to the body portion, Through the one side of the latch body is formed a restoring member hanger for the restoring member is installed, A guide boss for coupling the rear case and the front case constituting the exterior of the display unit is seated in the guide slot of the movement guide unit to guide the movement of the latch and set an installation position. The manipulation knob is seated in a space formed by recesses formed in the rear case and the front case which form the exterior of the display unit, wherein the knob movement slot is formed in the recess groove by the combination of the rear case and the front case. Latches of portable computers. The latch device of claim 1, wherein at least two movement guide parts are provided on the latch body. delete delete The method of claim 2, wherein the restoring member hanger, And a hook through portion formed through the latch body, and a hook rod extending through the latch body by a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction of the latch body and into which the restoration member is inserted. Device. According to claim 5, Restoration member support is formed on the inner surface of the rear case so as to be located at one end of the restoring member hanger, the restoring member support is supported, the restoring member support in accordance with the movement of the latch body A latch device of a portable computer, characterized in that the guide slot through which the hanger rod is formed. delete The latch device of a portable computer according to claim 1, wherein an antenna cover is formed at the front end of the rear case so that the recessed groove is formed in the antenna cover. The latch device of a portable computer according to claim 1 or 8, wherein the rear case or the antenna cover is provided with a protruding piece for forming one end of the knob shift slot to temporarily assemble the latch.

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