TWI571728B - Touchpad module and portable electronic device - Google Patents

Description

Touchpad module and portable electronic device

The present invention relates to a touch panel module, and more particularly to a touch panel module applied to a portable electronic device.

At present, many touchpad modules are touch input for users to operate. The touch panel module can be applied to an electronic device. For example, the notebook computer has a touch panel module to replace the mouse, and the user can operate the touch panel module for touch input. In general, the touch panel module is fixed to the housing by means of a screw lock, as shown in FIG. 1 , which is a schematic diagram of the assembly manner of the conventional touch panel module. The conventional touch panel module 9 is composed of a housing 90, a touch panel 91, a carrier member 92, and a plastic member 93.

When the touch panel module 9 is applied to other portable electronic devices, the housing 90 can be a housing of the portable electronic device. In the conventional assembly method, the screw post 901 must be additionally designed on the housing 90. The touch panel 91 is fixed to one surface of the carrier member 92, and the plastic member 93 is disposed on the other surface of the carrier member 92 and adjacent to one side of the screw post 901. Moreover, the plastic member 93 must be provided with a screw hole 931 corresponding to the screw post 901, and the touch panel 91 is fixed to the housing 90 by means of a screw lock.

As can be seen from the above, the structure of the conventional touch panel module 9 is relatively complicated, and the material used is relatively high in cost. Moreover, the touch panel module is still assembled by human power, and the assembly structure and method of the screw lock are labor-intensive man-hours.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a touch panel module, which is designed with a fixing rod connected to the touch panel assembly, and the fixing rod has a curved elastic clip, and a positioning column is arranged on the shell of the touch panel module. The arc-shaped elastic clip is detachably clamped on the positioning post, so that the touch panel assembly can be directly fixed to the casing by the fixing rod, the assembly method is quite simple, the assembly time is short, and the cost of the material can be saved. .

To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a touch panel module including a housing, a touch panel assembly, and a fixing rod. The housing has a bearing area and at least one positioning post, and the positioning post is disposed on the outer circumference of the bearing area. The touchpad assembly is disposed on the carrying area, and the touchpad assembly includes at least two hollow sleeves. The fixing rod is disposed on the at least two hollow sleeves, and the fixing rod has at least one arc-shaped elastic clip, and the arc-shaped elastic clip is detachably clamped to the positioning post to fix the touch panel assembly to the housing.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention further provides a portable electronic device including a housing, a touch panel assembly, and a fixing rod. The housing has a bearing area and at least one positioning post, and the positioning post is disposed on the outer circumference of the bearing area. The touchpad assembly is disposed on the carrying area, and the touchpad assembly includes at least two hollow sleeves. The fixing rod is disposed on the at least two hollow sleeves, and the fixing rod has at least one arc-shaped elastic clip, and the arc-shaped elastic clip is detachably clamped to the positioning post to fix the touch panel assembly to the housing.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the partial fixing rods form a curved elastic clip in a bent manner.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the curved elastic clip comprises two clamping arms, and a connecting end of the two clamping arms forms a closing portion, and the two clamping arms form an opening portion with respect to the connecting end.

According to an embodiment of the invention, when the fixing rod is disposed on the at least two hollow sleeves, the distance between the closing portion and the touch panel assembly is smaller than the distance between the opening portion and the touch panel assembly.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the two clamp arms are respectively U-shaped structures.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the arc-shaped elastic clip is moved toward the positioning post by the opening portion, so that the arc-shaped elastic clip is clamped on the positioning post, and the positioning post is located between the opening portion and the closing portion. The two clamp arms contact the surface of the positioning post.

According to an embodiment of the invention, when the fixing rod is disposed on the at least two hollow sleeves, the distance between the closing portion and the touch panel assembly is greater than the distance between the opening portion and the touch panel assembly, and the touch panel assembly There is at least one notch, and the position of the notch corresponds to the curved elastic clip.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the curved spring clip is of a U-shaped configuration.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the positioning post is passed through the notch so that the positioning post is located between the arc-shaped elastic clip and the notch, and the opening portion faces the positioning post, and the arc-shaped elastic clip moves toward the urban load region of the housing. So that the arc-shaped elastic clip is clamped on the positioning post, and the positioning post is located between the open portion and the closed portion, and the two clamp arms contact the surface of the positioning post.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the touch panel assembly includes a touch panel and a carrier member. The touch panel is fixed to one surface of the carrier member, and the carrier member includes the at least two hollow sleeves.

According to an embodiment of the invention, an end of the hollow sleeve facing the touch panel assembly has a slanted opening, and a part of the fixing rod is exposed from the oblique opening.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the upper edge of the hollow sleeve is longer than the length of the lower edge to form a bevel.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the positioning post comprises a cover body and a cylinder body, and the cover body is connected to the cylinder body, and the diameter of the cover body is larger than the diameter of the cylinder body.

According to the touch panel module and the portable electronic device of the present invention, the touch panel assembly has a hollow sleeve structure and the fixing rod is disposed in the hollow sleeve. The tube has a curved elastic clip, and the arc-shaped elastic clip is detachably clamped on the positioning post, so that the touch panel assembly can be directly fixed to the housing by the fixing rod, and the assembly method is quite simple, and the assembly time is simple. It is short and can save the cost of materials.

In order to enable the reviewing committee to better understand the technical contents of the present invention, the preferred embodiments are described below.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a combination of a touch panel module according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 2 . The touch panel module 1 includes a housing 10 , a touch panel assembly T and a fixing rod 40 . The touch panel assembly T includes a carrier component 20 and a touch panel 30 . It should be noted that the touch panel module 1 of the present example is applied to a portable electronic device, such as a touch panel module 1 mounted on a notebook computer, to replace the mouse for input operation. Therefore, the housing 10 of the touch panel module 1 of the present embodiment may be a housing of a portable electronic device (notebook computer).

The cover 10 has a loading area 11 and at least one positioning post 12, and the touch panel assembly T is disposed on the carrying area 11, wherein the carrying area 11 has an opening 111 (refer to FIG. 4A first), so when the touch After the board assembly T is assembled to the housing 10, the opening 111 of the carrying area 11 can be exposed by the touch panel 30, so that the user can operate the touch panel 30. The positioning post 12 of the embodiment is disposed on the outer periphery of the carrying area 11. The positioning position of the positioning post 12 only needs to be adjacent to the touch panel assembly T, so that the fixing rod 40 can be assembled to the positioning post 12, the details of which will be further described later. For example, the touch panel module 1 is applied to a notebook computer. Preferably, the positioning post 12 is disposed around the carrying area 11 and close to the side of the keyboard. Position the column 12. In addition, the embodiment does not limit the number of the positioning posts 12, and only one positioning post 12 can also achieve the function of assembling the touch panel assembly T to the housing 10, and the number only needs to be curved with the elastic rod of the fixing rod 40. 41 corresponds to each other, and the details of the embodiment are also described later.

As described above, the touch panel assembly T of the present embodiment is composed of the carrier member 20 and the touch panel 30. The touch panel 30 is fixed to one surface of the carrier member 20. Preferably, the touch panel 30 is attached to the carrier. The component 20 does not have the surface of the hollow sleeve 21 to collectively form the trackpad assembly T. Moreover, in the drawings of the present embodiment, in order to clearly show the connection relationship between the touch panel assembly T and the casing 10, the present invention is the viewing angle inside the casing 10.

3A is an exploded perspective view of the touch panel assembly and the fixing rod shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of the combination of the touch panel assembly and the fixing rod shown in FIG. 2, which is shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B. The carrier element 20 of the present embodiment is bent to form at least two hollow sleeves 21 adjacent to the side of the fixing post 12. Preferably, the two hollow sleeves 21 of the present embodiment further have a plurality of supporting portions 22, which are also The load bearing member 20 is curved to form an arcuate structure. The fixing rod 40 can be disposed in the hollow sleeve 21 and the supporting portion 22. As shown in FIG. 3B, the two ends of the fixing rod 40 are disposed in the hollow sleeve 21, and the middle portion of the fixing rod 40 is supported by the supporting portion 22. Supported.

In the present embodiment, the fixing rod 40 has at least one arc-shaped elastic clip 41, and the arc-shaped elastic clip 41 is detachably clamped to the positioning post 12. Specifically, the fixing rod 40 of the embodiment has flexible elastic properties. For example, the fixing rod 40 can be made of a metal material, so that the arc-shaped elastic clip 41 can be formed by bending a part of the fixing rod 40. The fixing rod 40 can be bent five times to form one of the curved elastic clips 41.

Moreover, the curved elastic clip 41 includes two clamping arms 413. In detail, the two clamping arms 413 of the embodiment are respectively U-shaped, that is, the fixing rod 40 is bent twice to form one U. The clip arms 413 of the font shape, and the joint ends between the two grip arms 413 form a closed portion 411, and the two grip arms 413 form an open portion 412 with respect to the joint end, as shown in Fig. 3A. The two clamping arms 413 are disposed on the outer side of the positioning post 12 such that the positioning post 12 is located between the opening portion 412 and the closing portion 411.

When the fixing rod 40 is bored through the hollow sleeve 21, the distance D1 between the closing portion 411 and the bearing member 20 is smaller than the distance D2 between the opening portion 412 and the bearing member 20, in other words, the closing portion 411 of the curved elastic clip 41. The carrier element 20 is closer to the opener portion 412. In this embodiment, the fixing rod 40 is first disposed on the hollow sleeve 21 of the carrier member 20, and the touch panel 30 is attached to the carrier member 20 to form the touch panel assembly T. The touch panel assembly T It can be assembled to the housing 10 together with the fixing rod 40.

4A and FIG. 4B are schematic diagrams showing the operation of assembling the touch panel assembly and the fixing rod shown in FIG. 3B to the housing. Please refer to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B simultaneously. Preferably, the fixing rod 40 of the present embodiment has a circular rod-like structure. Therefore, when the fixing rod 40 is disposed through the hollow sleeve 21, the opening portion 412 can be oriented outward, that is, the opening portion 412 is oriented without This side of the carrier element 20. Moreover, the opening of the opening portion 412 of the embodiment may be smaller than the width of the positioning post 12, and the arc-shaped elastic clip 41 is fixed to the positioning post 12 by the fixing rod 40 having a flexible elastic characteristic. As shown in FIG. 4A, the arcuate elastic clip 41 is moved toward the positioning post 12 by moving the opening portion 412 toward the positioning post 12 and then biasing the touch panel assembly T toward the positioning post 12, as shown in FIG. 4A. The arrow symbol is shown. Moreover, the flexible column 41 is placed on the positioning post 12 by the flexible elasticity of the opening portion 412. At this time, the positioning post 12 is located between the opening portion 412 and the closing portion 411, and two The clamp arm 413 contacts the surface of the positioning post 12, and the touch panel assembly T is fixed to the housing 10 as shown in Fig. 4B. At the same time, the touch panel 30 is exposed from the opening 111 of the carrying area 11, so that the user can operate the touch panel 30.

5A is a schematic view of the force applied to the touch panel module shown in FIG. 4B, FIG. 5B is an enlarged and cross-sectional view of the B area shown in FIG. 5A, and FIG. 5C is a part of the load bearing member and the fixed rod shown in FIG. 5B. A schematic view of the angle of view, please match Figure 5A to Figure 5C. First, the positioning post 12 of the embodiment further includes a cover body 121 and a column 122. The cover body 121 is connected to the column body 122. The diameter of the cover body 121 is larger than the diameter of the column body 122. When the curved elastic clip 41 is clamped When the positioning post 12 is disposed, the two clamping arms 413 contact the surface of the cylinder 122, and the cover 121 can further prevent the curved elastic clip 41 from falling off in the vertical direction (Z direction).

Moreover, the touch panel 30 of the present embodiment can be used instead of the mouse. Therefore, when the user operates the touch panel 30 of the embodiment, there may be a click-and-press action. The click action applies force to the touch panel 30. Further, since the touch panel 30 and the carrier member 20 are attached to each other to form the touch panel assembly T, the touch panel assembly T is also coupled to the fixed rod while applying force. 40 force, as shown in Figure 5C in the Z direction. In a long time, multiple use, the fixing rod 40 directly receives the force from the touch panel assembly T, resulting in the wear of the fixing rod 40, especially near the hollow sleeve 21 or the bending portion 414 of the support portion 22. A worn condition occurs.

As shown in FIG. 5C, in order to reduce the wear of the fixing rod 40, the upper edge length L1 of each hollow sleeve 21 of the present embodiment is greater than the lower edge length L2. Of course, the upper edge length L1 of the support portion 22 may also be It is larger than the lower edge length L2, and is not shown in Fig. 5C for the sake of simplicity. The design of the upper edge length L1 is greater than the length L2 of the lower edge, so that one end or both ends of the hollow sleeve 21 form a slanting opening 211. The oblique opening 211 of the embodiment is formed at the end of the hollow sleeve 21 near the curved elastic clip 41. And a portion of the fixing rod 40 is exposed from the oblique opening 211, that is, the bent portion 414 of the curved elastic clip 41 can be exposed from the oblique opening 211. When the fixing rod 40 receives the force from the touch panel assembly T, the fixing rod 40 can be offset in the vertical direction (Z direction) along the inclination of the oblique opening 211, thereby avoiding direct bearing from the force of the touch panel assembly T. In turn, the durability of the fixing rod 40 can be increased. When the force is applied to the touch panel 30, with the inclination of the oblique opening 211 and the flexibility of the fixing rod 40, the fixing rod 40 can drive the touch panel assembly T to return to the position before the previous click (for example, 4B). Shown).

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a touch panel assembly and a fixing rod according to another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, the fixing rod 40a can be bent three times to form one of the curved elastic clips 41a, and the appearance thereof is also the structure of the two clamping arms 413a. The curved elastic clip 41a of the embodiment is U-shaped. structure. Specifically, in this embodiment, the fixing rod 40a can be bent three times to form a U-shaped curved elastic clip 41a, and the connecting end between the two clamping arms 413a forms a closing portion 411a, and the two clamping arms 413a are opposite. An open portion 412a is formed at the connection end.

7A and FIG. 7B are schematic diagrams showing the operation of assembling the touch panel assembly and the fixing rod shown in FIG. 6 to the housing, as shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, the structure of the housing 10 and the touch panel 30 are as described above. The embodiments are the same, so the component numbers are used. In this embodiment, the fixing rod 40a is also disposed through the hollow sleeve 21a and the supporting portion 22a of the bearing member 20a. At this time, the distance D1 between the closing portion 411a and the bearing member 20a is greater than the opening portion 412a and the bearing member 20a. The distance D2 between, in other words, the opening portion 412a is closer to the carrier member 20a than the closing portion 411a.

Moreover, the bearing member 20a of the embodiment has at least one notch 23a, and the position of the notch 23a corresponds to the arc-shaped elastic clip 41a, and the positioning post 12 can be first placed between the arc-shaped elastic clip 41a and the notch 23a, as shown in the figure. 7A is shown. Specifically, the positioning post 12 is disposed between the curved elastic clip 41a and the notch 23a by passing the positioning post 12 through the notch 23a, and the opening portion 412a faces the positioning post 12 (please be shown in FIG. 6), and then, The touch panel assembly T1 is directly biased in the direction of the bearing area 11 of the housing 10 to move the curved elastic clip 41a toward the carrying area 11, as indicated by the arrow symbol in FIG. 7A. Similarly, the elastic portion 41a of the opening portion 412a is passed through the positioning post 12 so that the arc-shaped elastic clip 41a is sandwiched between the positioning post 12, and the positioning post 12 is located between the opening portion 412a and the closing portion 411a. The two clamp arms 413a contact the surface of the positioning post 12, thereby fixing the touch panel assembly T to the housing 10.

In addition, the present invention further provides a portable electronic device including a housing, a touch panel assembly, and a fixing rod. The housing is the housing of the portable electronic device, and also has a bearing area and a positioning post. The structural features of the housing and the touch panel assembly and the fixing rod and the connection relationship thereof can be referred to the foregoing embodiment. Add a statement.

In summary, according to the touch panel module and the portable electronic device of the present invention, the touch panel assembly has a hollow sleeve structure and the fixing rod is disposed in the hollow sleeve. The tube has a curved elastic clip and is detachably clamped on the positioning post, so that the touch panel assembly can be directly fixed to the housing by the fixing rod, and the assembly method is relatively simple, and the assembly time is short, and at the same time, Achieve the cost of saving parts.

Moreover, the hollow sleeve has a design of a slanted opening, and some of the fixing rods are exposed from the oblique opening, so that when the user clicks on the touch panel, the fixing rod is pushed by the carrying member and can be vertically displaced along the oblique opening, thereby Avoid direct bearing from the load-bearing components, which in turn increases the durability of the pole.

To sum up, the present invention, regardless of its purpose, means and efficacy, shows its distinctive features of the prior art. You are requested to review the examination and express the patent as soon as possible. It should be noted that the various embodiments described above are merely illustrative for ease of explanation, and the scope of the invention is intended to be limited by the scope of the claims.

1, 9‧‧‧ touchpad module
10, 90‧‧‧ shell
11‧‧‧bearing area
111‧‧‧ openings
12‧‧‧ Positioning column
121‧‧‧ cover
122‧‧‧Cylinder
20, 20a, 92‧‧‧ load bearing components
21, 21a‧‧‧ hollow casing
211‧‧‧ oblique mouth
22, 22a‧‧ ‧ support
23a‧‧‧ gap
30, 91‧‧‧ touchpad
40, 40a‧‧‧ fixed rod
41, 41a‧‧‧ curved elastic clip
411, 411a‧‧‧ Closed Department
412, 412a‧‧ Open Department
413, 413a‧‧ ‧ arms
414‧‧‧ bend
901‧‧‧ screw column
93‧‧‧Plastic parts
931‧‧‧ screw holes
B‧‧‧Area
D1, D2‧‧‧ distance
L1‧‧‧Upper edge length
L2‧‧‧ lower edge length
T, T1‧‧‧ touchpad assembly

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional manner of assembling a touch panel. 2 is a schematic diagram of a combination of a touch panel module according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3A is an exploded perspective view of the touch panel assembly and the fixing rod shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of the combination of the touch panel assembly and the fixing rod shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams showing the operation of assembling the touch panel assembly and the fixing rod shown in FIG. 3B to the housing. FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of the force application of the touch panel module shown in FIG. 4B. FIG. 5B is an enlarged and cross-sectional view of the B region shown in FIG. 5A. FIG. 5C is another perspective view of a portion of the carrier member and the fixing rod shown in FIG. 5B. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a touch panel assembly and a fixing rod according to another embodiment of the present invention. 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams showing the operation of assembling the touch panel assembly and the fixing rod shown in FIG. 6 to the housing.

1‧‧‧Touchpad module

10‧‧‧shell

11‧‧‧bearing area

12‧‧‧ Positioning column

20‧‧‧Loading components

30‧‧‧Touchpad

40‧‧‧Fixed rod

41‧‧‧Arc-shaped elastic clip

T‧‧‧Touchpad assembly

Claims (14)

A touch panel module is applied to a portable electronic device, comprising: a housing having a bearing area and at least one positioning post, the positioning post is disposed on an outer circumference of the carrying area; a touch panel assembly, Provided in the carrying area, the touch panel assembly comprises at least two hollow sleeves; and a fixing rod penetrating the at least two hollow sleeves, and the fixing rod has at least one curved elastic clip, the curved elastic clip The locating column is detachably mounted to the positioning post to fix the touch panel assembly to the housing. The touch panel module of claim 1, wherein a part of the fixing rod forms the curved elastic clip in a bent manner. The touch panel module of claim 2, wherein the curved elastic clip comprises two clamping arms, and a connecting end of the two clamping arms forms a closed portion, and the two clamping arms are opposite to the connecting end Form an open department. The touch panel module of claim 3, wherein when the fixing rod is disposed on the at least two hollow sleeves, a distance between the closing portion and the touch panel assembly is smaller than the opening portion and the The distance between the trackpad components. The touch panel module of claim 4, wherein the two clamp arms are respectively U-shaped. The touch panel module of claim 4, wherein the arc-shaped elastic clip is moved toward the positioning post by the opening portion facing the positioning post, so that the arc-shaped elastic clip is clamped to The positioning post is located between the opening portion and the closing portion, and the two clamping arms contact the surface of the positioning post. The touch panel module of claim 3, wherein when the fixing rod is disposed on the at least two hollow sleeves, a distance between the closing portion and the touch panel assembly is greater than the opening portion and the a distance between the touch panel assemblies, and the touch panel assembly has at least one notch, the notch being disposed at a position corresponding to the curved elastic clip. The touch panel module of claim 7, wherein the curved elastic clip has a U-shaped structure. The touch panel module of claim 7, wherein the positioning post passes through the notch such that the positioning post is located between the curved elastic clip and the notch, and the opening portion faces the positioning a column, the arc-shaped elastic clip is moved in the direction of the bearing area of the housing, so that the arc-shaped elastic clip is clamped to the positioning post, and the positioning post is located between the opening portion and the closing portion, the two The clamp arm contacts the surface of the positioning post. The touch panel module of claim 1, wherein the touch panel assembly comprises a touch panel and a carrier member, the touch panel being fixed to one surface of the carrier member, the carrier member comprising The at least two hollow sleeves. The touch panel module of claim 10, wherein an end of each of the at least two hollow sleeves facing the touch panel assembly has a slanted opening, and a portion of the fixing rod is exposed from the oblique opening. The touch panel module of claim 11, wherein an upper edge length of each of the at least two hollow sleeves is greater than a length of the lower edge to form the oblique opening. The touch panel module of claim 1, wherein the positioning post comprises a cover body and a cylinder, the cover body is connected to the column body, and the cover body has a diameter larger than a diameter of the column body. A portable electronic device includes: a housing having a bearing area and at least one positioning post disposed on an outer circumference of the carrying area; a touch panel assembly disposed on the carrying area, the touch panel assembly including at least two hollow sleeves; And a fixing rod is disposed on the at least two hollow sleeves, and the fixing rod has at least one arc-shaped elastic clip, and the arc-shaped elastic clip is detachably clamped on the positioning post to fix the touch panel assembly In the housing.