US20060091710A1

US20060091710A1 - Back cover assembly structure for electronic apparatus

Info

Publication number: US20060091710A1
Application number: US11/246,248
Authority: US
Inventors: Jing-Lin Zhang; Kuo-wen Chen
Original assignee: Coretronic Corp
Current assignee: Coretronic Corp
Priority date: 2004-11-01
Filing date: 2005-10-11
Publication date: 2006-05-04
Also published as: TWM265876U

Abstract

The present invention relates to an assembly structure for a back cover of an electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus has a frame, a display and a back cover connected with the frame to each other for allowing the display to be accepted therein. The assembly structure for the back cover comprises at least one pseudo fixing unit disposed between the frame and the back cover. The pseudo fixing unit includes a column and a calabash-shaped through hole matched to each other and allows the back cover to be positioned on the frame to form a false positioning between the back cover and the frame to process a fixing operation. An operator does not need to support the back cover to attach it to the frame not only auxiliary positioning effect is formed but also the assembly performing difficulty is reduced and the operation processing efficiency is enhanced.

Description

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a back cover assembly structure, and more particularly to an assembly structure convenient for processing an assembly operation of a frame and back cover of an electronic apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Accompanying the progress of technology, light weight, thin thickness, short length and small size are the design ideas for all current electronic facilities and apparatuses. Products always seen in the market attracts attention from consumer also with an appealing idea of minimization. But other than the idea of minimization, an unrest searching more vivid realty is aroused currently. Such kind of idea almost relates to video and/or audio facilities. A person craving for this buys a video/audio facility to strive for reality. Therefore, large-sized video/audio facilities are relatively appeared in the market. Among these, the most well known products are plasma display panels (PDP) and liquid crystal display (LCD).
Taking PDP as an example, the current most popular size thereof in the market is 42 inch (i.e. 110 cm×75 cm×10 cm approximately) and the total weight thereof is 40 to 50 kilograms, this makes the assembly work thereof to be very troublesome. Please refer to FIG. 1. After all electronic elements are installed in a frame 11 of a PDP (for explaining conveniently, electronic elements are not shown in the figure), an operator holds a back cover 12 thereof by both hands to attach the back cover 12 onto a rear side of the frame 11 so as to cover all electronic elements completely to form an one-body-typed outlook.
When the operator is processing a locking operation between the frame 11 and the back cover 12, the operator must support and press the back cover 12 by one hand to cause the back cover 12 to attach onto the frame 11 completely, and hold an electromotive screw driver (not shown in the figure) by another hand to lock the back cover 12 onto the frame 11 with a plurality of screws 13. However, such kind of work is considerably laborious. The main reason is that the operator cannot use both two hands completely on the locking operation, one hand must support and press the back cover 12 continuously in a whole process of locking to prevent the back cover 12 from dropping down. This leads to a situation that only one hand of the operator is used on the locking operation. Therefore, it is fairly inconvenient in the operation. Besides, the back cover 12 is made from metal with a certain weight, it is a great burden for the operator to support the back cover 12 by only one hand in a long time period. This is another factor to cause such kind of assembly of large electronic facility to be difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a back cover assembly structure for an electronic apparatus for assisting the assembly operation of the electronic apparatus to lower a difficulty in the assembly.
Accordingly, the back cover assembly structure according to the present invention is applied in the electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus has a frame, a display and a back cover combined with the frame for allowing the display to be accepted between them. The back cover assembly structure comprises at least one pseudo fixing unit. The pseudo fixing unit is disposed between the frame and the back cover and comprises a column and a calabash-shaped through hole. The column and the calabash-shaped through hole are matched to allow the back cover to be falsely positioned on the frame so that the assembly operation is conveniently processed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be more fully understood by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, showing an assembly type of a conventional plasma display panel;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view, showing a back cover assembly structure for an electronic apparatus of a first embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a partly perspective view, showing that a diameter of a calabash-shaped through hole is gradually reduced from the down to the up according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view, showing a situation that a column has already been extended through the through hole of the back cover according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is another partial cross sectional view, showing a situation that the back cover is falsely fixed on a frame through columns according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is an exploded view, showing a back cover assembly structure for an electronic apparatus of a second embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a partly perspective view, showing that a diameter of a through hole is gradually reduced from the up to the down according to the second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is an exploded view, showing a back cover assembly structure for an electronic apparatus of a third embodiment according to the present invention; and
FIG. 9 is a partial cross sectional view, showing each of pseudo fixing units having a connection element of the third embodiment according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 2. A back cover assembly structure 2 of a first embodiment according to the present invention is applied in an electronic apparatus such as a plasma display panel (PDP) or a liquid crystal display (LCD). A PDP 3 is taken as an example to describe. The PDP 3 comprises a frame 31, a display 32 and a back cover 33, in which the frame 31 has a surrounding wall 311 with a rectangle outline. A plurality of first screw holes 312 separately formed inside of the surrounding wall 311.
The display 32 includes a display panel 321 (a glass plate in this embodiment) and a driving circuit electrically connected with the display panel 321 (for describing conveniently, it is not further marked in the figure). The driving circuit outputs electronic signals ,to the display panel 321 to allow the display panel 321 to generate variety of images depending on the electronic signals. In addition, a plurality of second screw holes 331 respectively corresponding to each first screw hole 312 is formed through a back cover 33.
The back cover assembly structure 2 comprises two pseudo fixing units 20; each pseudo fixing unit 20 is disposed closely to the upper side or the lateral side of the frame 31 (the pseudo fixing unit 20 is disposed at the upper side of the frame 31 in this embodiment), and the pseudo fixing units 20 are deposed and separated symmetrically between the frame 31 and the back cover 33. Each pseudo fixing unit 20 has a column 21 and a through hole 22 formed on the back cover 33. The columns 21 are disposed on the surrounding wall 311 of the frame 31 and protruded toward the back cover 33. The positions of the through holes 22 are respective to the columns 21.
The column 21 adopted in the embodiment is a self-tapping screw. The self-tapping screw is screwed and positioned on the frame 31 to form a pattern that the column 21 is protruded toward the back cover 33. Accompanying FIG. 3, a diameter of the through hole 22 is reduced gradually from the down to the up to cause the through hole 22 to be calabash-shaped.
Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 5. The back cover 33 is combined onto the frame 31 after the assembly of the display 32 is completed. The display 32 is covered and protected by the frame 31 and the back cover 33. The operator grasps the back cover 33 with two hands to cause each through hole 22 on the back cover 33 to allow the corresponding column 21 to be passed through the through holes 22. In the meantime, the operator lightly supports the back cover 33. The back cover 33 naturally drops slightly downward to the position shown in FIG. 5 relative to the frame 31 owing to the gravity of the back cover 33. The back cover 33 is falsely fixed onto the frame 31 by being hung on the columns 21.
Because the back cover 33 is temperately falsely fixed on the frame 31, the operator does not need to support the back cover 33 continuously by both hands. Therefore, the operator picks up an electromotive screw driver (or other tools, not shown in the figure) easily by one hand and holds screws 4 by the other hand to screw the screws 4 in the first and the second screw holes 312 and 331, as FIG. 2 shows. Both two hands of the operator directly are applied on a locking operation of the screws 4 so that it is unnecessary to worry about whether the back cover 33 might drop down from the frame 31.
The columns 21 is used to pass through the through holes 22 of the back cover 33 according to the present invention. The back cover 33 is hung detachably on the frame 31 so as to produce a pseudo fixing. Accordingly, the back cover 33 is not easy dropped down from the frame 31 such that the operator concentrates on the locking work even if the operator doesn't grasp the back cover 33. Therefore, the operator does not support and fix the back cover 33 by one hand to lower down the assembly difficulty of the electronic apparatus greatly. Furthermore, under double collocation of the locking of screws 4 and the pseudo fixing, the positioning ability between the frame 31 and the back cover 33 is increased according to the present invention.
Furthermore, the column 21 is fixed on the frame 31 through the self-tapping screws and protruded toward the back cover 33 to allow the column 21 to pass through the through holes 22 to produce the pseudo fixing according to the present embodiment. Besides, the column 21 also is welded directly onto the frame 31 and extended in the through holes 22 to produce an assembly structure similar to the self-tapping screws. Furthermore, the column 21 is molded from one body with the frame 31. These combination types of the frame 31 and the columns 21 mentioned above allow a variety of choices to be put into practice.
It is noticeable in this embodiment that the number of the pseudo fixing units is two, it is one or more than two in practical use. The number of the pseudo fixing units 20 all depends on the size of the display panel 321. It is namely that more pseudo fixing units 20 are needed to enhance the positioning effect if the size of the display panel 321 is lager and the frame 31 is also larger. Naturally, if the size of the display panel 321 is smaller, only one pseudo fixing unit 20 is enough.
However, the pseudo fixing units 20 are disposed on a premise of balance. If only one pseudo fixing unit 20 is disposed, the pseudo fixing unit 20 must be positioned at a center point of one side of the frame 31 relatively adjacent to the back cover 33 to prevent the back cover 33 from inclining to one side. Although it is hung over the frame 31 before the back cover 33 is fixed onto the frame 31. It is the same reason that a plurality of pseudo fixing units 20 must be balanced to make sure the back cover 33 not to incline to one side if they are applied on the PDP with a large size.
Please refer to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows an assembly structure 5 for a back cover of an electronic apparatus of a second preferred embodiment according to the present invention, the second preferred embodiment takes the first preferred embodiment as a basis to do some variation. As FIG. 6 shows, the assembly structure 5 comprises two pseudo fixing units 50 disposed separately to each other, and each pseudo fixing unit 50 also has a column 51 and a through hole 52 corresponding to the column 51.
The difference is that the disposed positions of the column 51 and the through hole 52 are exactly opposite to the positions disclosed in the first embodiment. The columns 51 are respectively disposed on the back cover 33. Self-tapping screws are adopted in the second embodiment to screw the back cover 33 toward the frame 31 to allow the column 51 to be protruded toward the frame 31. As to through holes, they are formed at positions on the frame 31 respectively corresponding to the columns 51 and are calabash-typed holes with diameter thereof is gradually reduced from the up to the down as shown in FIG. 7. The columns 51 are dropped into the position with the smallest diameter of the through holes 52 when the operator no more supports the back cover 33. This also attains to a false position effect.
Please refer to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIGS. 8 and 9 show an assembly structure 6 for a back cover of an electronic apparatus of a third preferred embodiment according to the present invention; the third preferred embodiment takes the first embodiment as an original concept to extend farther. The assembly structure 6 includes four pseudo fixing units 60 surrounding the frame 31. Each pseudo fixing unit 60 has a connection element 63 hung on one side of the frame 31 relatively adjacent to the back cover 33, two columns 61 welded respectively on one side of the connection element 63 facing to the back cover 33 and protruded toward the back cover 33 and two through holes formed on the back cover 33. The current embodiment defines that every pseudo fixing unit 60 has two columns 61 and two the through holes 62, but it also has one or more than two according to the different practices and is not limited to the current embodiment.
Being different from the embodiments mentioned above, the pseudo fixing unit 60 of the current embodiment further has a connection element 63, a contour of the connection element 63 is attached correspondingly to an inner side of the frame 31 so that the connection element 63 does not occupy a space needed for arranging the display 32 and forms a more stable connection with the frame 31. Besides, the column 61 is changed to dispose on the connection element 63 and to protrude toward the back cover 33.
The assembly structure of the current embodiment is directly applied on any current PDP. The frame 31 thereof is not directly formed with the columns 61 in the manufacturing process so that the assembly structure 6 of the present invention is allowed to have a false fixing effect without altering a design of an original apparatus by extraordinarily adding the connection element 63. Furthermore, the positioning property between the frame 31 and the back cover 33 is enhanced, the assembly difficulty is reduced and whole working efficiency is speeded up.
A more particular point is in that the connection element 63 of the current embodiment is hung at one side of the frame 31 adjacent to the back cover 33 as the figure shows also is chosen to weld additionally on the frame 31. In this way, the original mold design (including the frame 31 and the back cover 33) is unnecessary to be changed, only connection elements 63 need to be added extraordinarily. Therefore, the complex design process of molds is omitted, and the broad application of the present invention further is strengthened and the whole use value can further be enhanced.
To sum up the description mentioned above, that the columns 21, 51 and 61 are used to pass through the through holes 22, 52 and 62 in the back cover assembly structures 2, 5 and 6 for an electronic apparatus according to the present invention allows the false fixing relation to be formed between the frame 31 and the back cover 33. Therefore, not only an operator does not need to support the back cover 33 to prevent the back cover 33 from dropping down from the frame 31, but also assembly processing difficulty is lowered down, and further the operation efficiency is speeded up and the object of the present invention is accurately attained.
Additional advantages and modifications readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications are made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A back cover assembly structure for an electronic apparatus, said electronic apparatus having a frame, a display and a back cover combined with said frame to each other for allowing said display to be accepted therein, said back cover assembly structure comprising:

at least one pseudo fixing unit, disposed between said frame and said back cover, said pseudo fixing unit comprising a column and a calabash-shaped through hole matched to each other for positioning said back cover on said frame.

2. The back cover assembly structure according to claim 1, wherein said pseudo fixing unit is disposed on an upper side or a lateral side of said back cover and said frame.

3. The back cover assembly structure according to claim 1, wherein said pseudo fixing unit comprises a first fixing unit and a second fixing unit, said first fixing unit and said second fixing unit is symmetrically and separately disposed between said frame and said back cover.

4. The back cover assembly structure according to claim 1, wherein said column is connected on said frame and protruded toward said back cover, said through hole is formed on said back cover and corresponding to said column.

5. The back cover assembly structure according to claim 4, wherein a diameter of said through hole is reduced from the down to the up.

6. The back cover assembly structure according to claim 1, wherein said column is connected on said back cover and protruded toward said frame, said through hole is formed on said frame and corresponding to said column.

7. The back cover assembly structure according to claim 6, wherein a diameter of said through hole is reduced from the up to the down.

8. The back cover assembly structure according to claim 1, said pseudo fixing unit further comprising a connection element, said connection element disposed at one side of said frame relatively adjacent to said back cover, said column being disposed on said connection element and protruded toward said back cover, said through hole being formed on said back cover and corresponding to said column.

9. The back cover assembly structure according to claim 1, said pseudo fixing unit further comprising a connection element, disposed at one side of said frame relatively adjacent to said back cover, said column being disposed on said back cover and protruded toward said frame, said through hole being formed on said connection element and corresponding to said column.