Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-04
2003-11-25
Lea-Edmonds, Lisa (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S689000, C349S058000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06654232
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable computer, and more specifically, to a portable computer that uses a spring to buffer shock force of a monitor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, consumers have used desktop computers to process documents. However, since the desktop computers are heavy and hard to transport, users cannot process documents when they go out. As technology develops day-by-day, there are many kinds of portable computers such as notebook computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) being developed. These popular portable computers are easy to carry out so that users can process documents conveniently when they are going out. However, since users are always carrying out the portable computers, the portable computers are usually in an environment with a lot of vibration. It is possible that the portable computers may fall down due to the carelessness of users. Therefore, the portable computers are easily damaged, especially liquid crystal displays (LCDs) installed inside the portable computers. These LCDs are made of fragile material, and they cannot sustain great shock force. However, the LCDs make up an indispensable display interface of portable computers. Therefore, portable computers with buffers to absorb shock force are being developed by researchers.
Please refer to FIG.
1
.
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a prior art portable computer
10
. The portable computer
10
comprises a housing
12
and a monitor
20
. The housing
12
has an opening
14
formed on an upper side of the housing
12
. The monitor
20
is installed inside the housing
12
at the opening
14
. The housing
12
further comprises a plurality of buttons
16
for allowing users to input signals into the portable computer
10
.
Please refer to FIG.
2
.
FIG. 2
is an exploded diagram of the monitor
20
of the prior art portable computer
10
. The monitor
20
comprises a printed circuit board (PCB)
22
, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel
24
, a frame
26
, a touch panel
28
, and a protective film
30
. The PCB
22
comprises circuits and a processor
18
for controlling operations of the portable computer
10
. The LCD panel
24
is installed on the PCB
22
for displaying images. The frame
26
is installed around the PCB
22
and the LCD panel
24
for fixing the LCD panel
24
on the PCB
22
. The touch panel
28
is installed on an upper side of the LCD panel
24
for receiving instructions inputted in a touch manner by users and transmitting the instructions to the processor
18
for further processing. The transparent protective film
30
is installed on the touch panel
28
for protecting the touch panel
28
.
In order to avoid damage to the monitor
20
when the portable computer
10
receives a vibration or a shock force, the prior art monitor
20
further comprises a plurality of elastomers
32
installed on a bottom of the monitor
20
. The elastomers
32
are made of elastic materials such as plastics or cushions. First sides
32
a
of the elastomers
32
are fixed on a bottom of the PCB
22
, and second sides
32
b
of the elastomers
32
are fixed on an inner side of the housing
12
so as to elastically support the monitor
20
inside the housing
12
(please refer to FIG.
1
). When the monitor
20
receives a shock force, the elastomers
32
can absorb a portion of the shock force so as to prevent the monitor
20
from receiving damage.
However, the elastomers
32
made of plastics or cushions can only absorb a little portion of shock force. Therefore, when the monitor
20
receives the shock force, a large portion of the shock force is still absorbed by the monitor
20
, and only a little portion of the shock force is absorbed by the elastomers
32
. Although a large thickness can make the elastomers
32
absorb more shock force, it will also increase the volume of the elastomers
32
which will in turn increase the volume of the portable computer
10
. Moreover, the characteristics of the plastics and the cushions change under high temperatures and a high moisture environment, thereby further influencing the ability to absorb shock force. In addition, since the bottom of the PCB
22
has many circuits distributed on it, the elastomers
32
cannot be installed on the whole area of the bottom of the PCB
22
, but can only be installed at appropriate positions in small pieces. However, this situation makes each position of the LCD panel
24
receive unequal force. Thus, the LCD panel
24
is more easily damaged. In different kinds of portable computers, the material, weight, and strength of the LCD panel
24
and PCB
22
are also different. Therefore, designers must choose the proper characteristics such as coefficient of elasticity of elastomers
32
to properly support the monitor. However, the characteristics of the elastomers
32
such as plastics or cushions must be changed through difficult manufacturing techniques. That is not convenient for producers. Therefore, the prior art buffer lacks flexibility, thereby increasing the cost of production.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a portable computer that uses a spring to buffer shock force of a monitor, so as to solve the problem of the prior art technology.
The claimed invention, briefly summarized, discloses a portable computer. The portable computer comprises a housing which has an opening formed on an upper side, and a monitor installed inside the housing at the opening. The monitor comprises a chassis, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel fixed on the chassis for displaying images, and at least a spring. The spring has a first end connected to the chassis and a second end connected to the housing for elastically supporting the monitor inside the housing.
It is an advantage of the claimed invention that the claimed invention comprises at least a spring. The spring can absorb most of a shock force received by the monitor. Therefore the monitor is not easily damaged. Moreover, the characteristics of the spring are easily changed and the assembly of the spring is also easy and convenient.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5659376 (1997-08-01), Uehara et al.
patent: 5675397 (1997-10-01), Fukushima
patent: 5808707 (1998-09-01), Niibori et al.
patent: 6181555 (2001-01-01), Haley et al.
patent: 6229695 (2001-05-01), Moon
Tsao Johnson
Yang Hsin-Yuan
Hsu Winston
Inventec Appliances Corp.
Lea-Edmonds Lisa
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