TWM653316U - Electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device includes a keyboard module, a mother board and a flexible printed circuit (FPC) board. The keyboard module includes a membrane circuit board, wherein the membrane circuit board includes a keyboard connecting side. The mother board is disposed under the keyboard module and includes a mother board connector. The FPC board connects the membrane circuit board and includes a first connecting portion connecting the keyboard connecting side, a turning portion connecting the first connecting portion, an extending portion connecting the turning portion and a second connecting portion connected between the extending portion and the mother board. A long axis of the extending portion is substantially parallel to the keyboard connecting side.

Description

Electronic devices

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device.

In terms of current computer usage habits, the keyboard is one of the indispensable input devices. Whether it is the computer itself or its peripheral products, they are all developing towards the design concept of light, thin, short and small. The keyboard has also changed from the early large structure to a thin keyboard. Due to its small size, thin thickness and light weight, thin film circuit boards have been widely used in keyboards in recent years to cope with the current trend of thinness and lightness. Generally speaking, the thin film circuit board of the keyboard is mostly connected to the system circuit board of the electronic product through a flexible printed circuit (FPC) to transmit signals to each other.

At present, most of the membrane circuit boards of keyboards are arranged on the substrate. After the flexible circuit board is connected to the membrane circuit board, it will be folded to connect to the connector on the motherboard. In this way, the positions of the keyboard's membrane circuit board and flexible circuit board must match the positions of the connectors on the motherboard. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a variety of different membrane circuit boards according to different motherboard designs or to accommodate different membrane circuits. The position of the connector on the motherboard is changed due to the board design, which in turn causes trouble in material preparation and increases production costs.

The present disclosure provides an electronic device, which includes a keyboard module, a motherboard, and a flexible circuit board. The keyboard module includes a thin film circuit board, wherein the thin film circuit board includes a keyboard connection side. The motherboard is arranged below the keyboard module and includes a motherboard connector. The flexible circuit board is connected to the thin film circuit board, and includes a first connecting portion connected to the keyboard connection side, a turning portion connected to the first connecting portion, an extending portion connected to the turning portion, and a second connecting portion connected between the extending portion and the motherboard, wherein the long axis direction of the extending portion is substantially parallel to the keyboard connection side.

Based on the above, the flexible circuit board of the electronic device disclosed in the present invention is connected between the thin film circuit board of the keyboard module and the motherboard, and the flexible circuit board includes a turning portion, so that the extension portion of the flexible circuit board is turned by the turning portion, and its long axis direction is parallel to the keyboard connection side of the thin film circuit board. In this way, the flexible circuit board can use the extension portion parallel to the keyboard connection side to make the connection portion connected to the motherboard freely translate to the position corresponding to the motherboard connector of the motherboard to couple with the motherboard connector. Therefore, the electronic device disclosed herein utilizes the design of the turning portion of the flexible circuit board to turn the extension portion, so that it can be connected to the motherboard connector located at a variety of different positions, thereby allowing the keyboard module to be applied to more electronic devices with different configurations and models, greatly improving the commonality of the keyboard module, and thereby reducing the production cost of the electronic device.

The aforementioned technical contents, features and effects of the present disclosure will be clearly presented in the following detailed description of each embodiment with reference to the drawings. Directional terms mentioned in the following embodiments, such as "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", etc., are only for reference to the directions in the attached drawings. Accordingly, the directional terms used are illustrative and not limiting of the disclosure. Furthermore, in the following embodiments, the same or similar elements will be given the same or similar numbers.

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of some components of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a flexible circuit board of an electronic device in different bending states according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a schematic bottom view of some components of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 3 . In some embodiments, the electronic device 100 includes a keyboard module 101 , a motherboard 150 and a flexible circuit board 120 . The electronic device 100 may be, for example, a portable electronic device such as a notebook computer, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The keyboard module 101 may include a thin film circuit board 110 , where the thin film circuit board 110 includes a keyboard connection side 112 . In this embodiment, the keyboard module 101 has multiple keys 102, which may include multiple letter keys, space keys, etc. Among them, a plurality of buttons 102 are arranged on the thin film circuit board 110 in a depressible manner. For example, a reset member (not shown), such as an elastomer, a spring piece or the like, may be disposed between each button 102 and the film circuit board 110 . When the button 102 is pressed, it can move downward toward the thin film circuit board 110 to trigger and generate a signal to control the electronic device 100 to perform corresponding operations and compress the reset member to accumulate elastic force. When the button 102 is released, the elastic force accumulated in the reset member can be used to cause the button 102 to move downward. Button 102 rises and returns to its original unpressured position.

In some embodiments, a plurality of conductive lines can be arranged on the thin film circuit board 110, and when the button 102 is pressed, the conductive lines can be connected to trigger a corresponding signal. In some embodiments, the conductive lines may be metal lines, such as copper lines, silver paste lines, or other metal lines. However, the conductive wire is not limited to metal materials, and any material with conductivity can be used as the material of the conductive wire. In some embodiments, the conductive lines may be formed on the thin film circuit board 110 by printing or etching. In this embodiment, the keyboard connection side 112 of the film circuit board 110 is an outlet area for conductive lines. That is to say, the conductive lines of the film circuit board 110 can be extended to the keyboard connection side 112 for electrical connection with the flexible circuit board 120 . The flexible connection enables the thin film circuit board 110 to be electrically connected to the corresponding processing system (such as the motherboard 150 of the electronic device 100) through the flexible circuit board 120 for signal transmission.

In some embodiments, the thin film circuit board 110 may further include a plurality of openings 114 and 116, wherein the opening 114 may be an assembly hole located in the gap between adjacent keys for screws or other fasteners to pass through for fastening, and the opening 116 may be located, for example, at the periphery of the thin film circuit board 110, and a plurality of light-emitting elements (such as light-emitting diodes) may be located in the openings 116, respectively, and the keyboard module 101 may emit light through the guidance of the light guide plate. However, the positions and numbers of the openings 114 and 116 of the present embodiment are for illustration only, and the thin film circuit board may have other numbers and other configurations of openings.

It should be noted that FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of the electronic device 100 , that is, the perspective viewed from the lower casing of the electronic device 100 toward the upper casing. Furthermore, FIG. 3 omits the lower casing. body to more clearly present the components inside the electronic device 100. In some embodiments, the motherboard 150 is disposed below the keyboard module 101 and includes a motherboard connector 152. Specifically, the arrangement relationship in which the motherboard 150 is disposed below the keyboard module 101 is viewed from the direction in which the electronic device 100 is used, that is, from the top view direction as shown in FIG. 1 . However, from the perspective of FIG. 3 Viewed from the bottom view, the motherboard 150 is located above the keyboard module 101 . In some embodiments, the flexible circuit board 120 is connected between the keyboard connection side 112 of the keyboard module 101 and the motherboard connector 152 of the motherboard 150 to electrically connect the keyboard module 101 to the motherboard 150 . In this embodiment, the electronic device 100 may further include an input device such as a touch pad 130, which is electrically connected to the motherboard 150 to generate a signal triggered by the user's pressing of the touch pad to control the electronic device. The device 100 performs corresponding operations.

In detail, the flexible circuit board 120 includes a first connecting part 122 , a turning part 124 , an extending part 126 and a second connecting part 128 . In this embodiment, various parts of the flexible circuit board 120 are connected to each other and integrally formed. The first connecting part 122 is connected to the keyboard connection side 112 of the keyboard module 101 , the turning part 124 is connected between the first connecting part 122 and the extending part 126 , and the extending part 126 is connected between the turning part 124 and the second connecting part 128 between. The turning part 124 has a turning angle, so that after the extension part 126 of the flexible circuit board 120 is turned by the turning part 124 , the direction of its long axis A1 is substantially parallel to the keyboard connection side 112 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the extension portion 126 can be bent (for example, 180 degrees) at a position corresponding to the motherboard connector 152 of the motherboard 150 so that the second connecting portion 128 is connected to the motherboard connector 152 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 , in one embodiment, the turning portion 124 is L-shaped and has a substantially vertical (i.e., approximately 90 degrees) turning angle to respectively connect the first connecting portion 122 and the extending portion 126. Furthermore, the first connecting portion 122 may further include an extending end 1221 connected to the turning portion 124, and the long axis A2 of the extending end 1221 and the long axis A1 of the extending portion 126 are substantially perpendicular to each other due to the turning portion 124. Furthermore, the length L1 of the extending portion 126 may be substantially greater than 150 mm. With such configuration, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the flexible circuit board 120 can utilize an extension portion 126 that is parallel to the keyboard connection side 112 and has a longer length L1 so that the second connection portion 128 can freely translate along the direction of the long axis A1 to a position corresponding to the motherboard connector 152 of the motherboard 150, and then bend (e.g., fold 180 degrees) to connect the second connection portion 128 to the motherboard connector 152.

For example, the second connection portion 128 can be translated along the direction of the long axis A1 to the first position as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 to connect with the motherboard connector corresponding to the first position. Furthermore, the second connection portion 128 can also be translated to the second position as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2 to connect with the motherboard connector corresponding to the second position. Of course, the second connection portion 128 can be connected to motherboard connectors at other different positions. Therefore, the flexible circuit board 120 of this embodiment utilizes the turning direction of the turning portion 124 and the lengthening of the extension portion 126 to enable it to be connected to motherboard connectors located at a variety of different positions, thereby enabling the keyboard module 101 to be applied to more electronic devices of different configurations and models, greatly improving the commonality of the keyboard module 101.

In one embodiment, the electronic device 100 may further include a reinforcing member 127 disposed at a bend of the extension part 126 , for example, the extension part 126 is folded to connect the second connecting part 128 to the bend of the motherboard connector. at. In this embodiment, the reinforcing member 127 may include elastic materials such as sponge and rubber to prevent the flexible circuit board 120 from being disconnected or having other electrical problems due to excessive bending (dead bending) at the bending location. Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 3 . In one embodiment, the keyboard module 101 may further include a base plate 118 as shown in FIG. 3 , which is disposed below the film circuit board 110 . Specifically, the arrangement relationship in which the base plate 118 is disposed below the thin film circuit board is viewed from the direction in which the electronic device 100 is used, that is, from the top view as shown in FIG. 1 . However, from the bottom view of FIG. 3 Viewed from the direction, the bottom plate 118 will cover the top of the thin film circuit board 110 . Therefore, the lower film circuit board 110 cannot be seen from the viewing angle of FIG. 3 . The flexible circuit board 120 is connected to the film circuit board 110 and passes through the opening of the bottom plate 118 to be connected to the motherboard connector 152 of the motherboard 150 .

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure in a top view. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a partial cross-section of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Please refer to FIG. 3, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 simultaneously. In some embodiments, the electronic device 100 may include a first body and a second body pivotally connected to each other, so that the first body and the second body are suitable for relative rotation to present an open and closed state. In this embodiment, the electronic device 100 may be a notebook computer, and the corresponding first body and second body may be a host and a display of the notebook computer, respectively. The keyboard module 101 may be configured on the first body. It should be noted that, in order to simplify the view, the electronic device 100 in FIG5 only shows the first body provided with the keyboard module 101, and FIG6 may be a partial cross-sectional view of the electronic device 100 in FIG5 along the section line A-A'.

In this embodiment, the electronic device 100 may include a housing 140 defining a housing space S1, and the keyboard module 101, the motherboard 150, and the flexible circuit board 120 may be disposed in the housing space S1. Further, the housing 140 includes an upper housing 142 and a lower housing 144 coupled to each other to form a housing of a first body, and the keyboard module 101 is fixed to the upper housing 142. In this embodiment, the motherboard 150 is fixed to the upper housing 142. Specifically, the motherboard 150 is located below the keyboard module 101 and is electrically connected to the keyboard module 101, and the motherboard 150 can be locked to the upper housing 142 through the cooperation of the locking holes 1421 of the upper housing 142 and locking elements such as screws or studs. In such a configuration, the flexible circuit board 120 is connected to the thin film circuit board 110 and can be bent to connect to the motherboard connector 152 of the motherboard 150. In this embodiment, the motherboard connector 152 is located on the lower surface of the motherboard 150 away from the keyboard module 101, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of some components of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It must be noted that the electronic device of this embodiment is similar to the electronic device of the aforementioned embodiment, and therefore, this embodiment uses the component numbers and some contents of the aforementioned embodiment, wherein the same numbers are used to represent the same or similar components, and the description of the same technical contents is omitted. For the description of the omitted parts, please refer to the aforementioned embodiment, and this embodiment will not repeat them.

It should be noted that FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electronic device of this embodiment along the position of the section line A-A' shown in FIG. 5. Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 7 at the same time. In this embodiment, the keyboard module 101 is fixed to the upper housing 142, and the motherboard 150 is fixed to the lower housing 144. Specifically, the motherboard 150 can be locked to the lower housing 144 through the locking hole 1441 of the lower housing 144 and the locking element such as a screw or a stud. Under such a configuration, the flexible circuit board 120 can be connected to the film circuit board 110 and then be bent to connect to the motherboard connector 152 of the motherboard 150. In this embodiment, the motherboard connector 152 is located on the upper surface of the motherboard 150 facing the keyboard module 101, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Therefore, the keyboard module 101 can be applied to at least electronic devices in which the motherboard 150 is locked to the upper housing 142 and the motherboard 150 is locked to the lower housing 144 or other suitable motherboard connector positions through the design of the flexible circuit board 120.

To sum up, the flexible circuit board of the electronic device of the present disclosure is connected between the film circuit board of the keyboard module and the motherboard, and the flexible circuit board includes a turning part, so that the extension part of the flexible circuit board can be turned through the turning part. Finally, its long axis is parallel to the keyboard connection side of the film circuit board. In this way, the flexible circuit board can use the extension portion parallel to the keyboard connection side so that the connection portion connected to the motherboard can be freely translated to a position corresponding to the motherboard connector of the motherboard to couple to the motherboard connector. Therefore, the electronic device of the present disclosure uses the turning part of the flexible circuit board to turn the extension part, so that it can be connected to the motherboard connector at a variety of different positions, thus enabling the keyboard module to be applied to more different configurations and models. In electronic devices, the commonality of keyboard modules is greatly improved, thereby reducing the production cost of electronic devices.

100: Electronic devices 101:Keyboard module 102:Button 110:Thin film circuit board 112: Keyboard connection side 114, 116: Open your mouth 118:Base plate 120:Flexible circuit board 122: First connection part 1221:Extended end 124: Steering part 126:Extension 127: Reinforcements 128: Second connection part 130:Touchpad 140:Chassis 142:Upper shell 144:Lower shell 1421, 1441: Locking hole 150: Motherboard 152:Motherboard connector A1, A2: long axis L1:Length S1: Accommodation space

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of some components of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a flexible circuit board of an electronic device in different bending states according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a schematic bottom view of some components of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of some components of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

100: Electronic devices

101:Keyboard module

102:Button

110: Thin film circuit board

112: Keyboard connection side

114, 116: Open your mouth

120: Flexible circuit board

122: First connection part

1221:Extended end

124: Steering part

126:Extension

127: Reinforcements

128: Second connection part

A1, A2: long axis

L1: Length

Claims (10)

An electronic device including: A keyboard module includes a film circuit board, wherein the film circuit board includes a keyboard connection side; a motherboard disposed below the keyboard module and including a motherboard connector; and The flexible circuit board is connected between the keyboard connection side and the motherboard connector, and includes a first connection part connected to the keyboard connection side, a turning part connected to the first connection part, an extension part connected to the turning part, and a connecting part. In the second connection portion between the extension portion and the motherboard, the long axis direction of the extension portion is substantially parallel to the keyboard connection side. The electronic device as described in claim 1 further includes a casing defining a housing space, wherein the keyboard module, the motherboard and the flexible circuit board are disposed in the housing space. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the casing includes an upper casing and a lower casing coupled to each other, and the motherboard and the keyboard module are fixed on the upper casing. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the casing includes an upper casing and a lower casing coupled to each other, the keyboard module is fixed to the upper casing, and the motherboard is fixed to the lower casing. . An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the turning portion is L-shaped and has a substantially vertical corner to respectively connect the first connecting portion and the extending portion. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the length of the extension is substantially greater than 150 mm. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the extending portion is bent to connect the second connecting portion to the motherboard connector. The electronic device of claim 7 further includes a reinforcing member disposed at the bend of the extension portion. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first connecting portion further includes an extending end connected to the turning portion, wherein the extending end and the extending portion are substantially perpendicular to each other due to the turning portion. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the keyboard module further includes a base plate disposed below the thin film circuit board, and the flexible circuit board is connected to the thin film circuit board and passes through the base plate to be connected to the motherboard connector.

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