Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-06
2001-08-14
Thompson, Gregory (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S689000, C361S704000, C361S758000, C361S810000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06275374
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to electronic devices such as information processing equipment, and more particularly to an electronic device that has a mechanism for protecting electronic components. The present invention is suitable, for example, for protection of an LSI mounted on a motherboard in a notebook personal computer (“PC”).
Notebook PCs are required to efficiently radiate the heat generated from high-performance electronic components. They are also required to have a rigid body housing in order to protect electronic components such as a CPU from an impact and torsion that are applied to the body.
Accordingly, a conventional notebook PC has enhanced rigidity using a thick body housing, and is provided with a heat-radiative plate in contact with or in the neighborhood of the electronic components. A motherboard mounted with these electronic components is fixed on the housing's bottom surface through a spacer, and spaced from the surface by a predetermined distance. Accordingly, the electronic components are supposed to be protected from contacting and/or colliding with top and bottom surfaces of the housing even when the housing bends. A plurality of spacers is generally mounted around the motherboard (or printed circuit board) to allow installation of the electronic components on the motherboard. The conventional electronic component has not contacted the housing's top and bottom surfaces, because the maximum flexure amount of the bent housing was smaller than the distance between the electronic component and the housing.
However, the more recent thin-body boom that the notebook PCs are inevitably required to seek has thinned the housing width (in a height direction) and shortened the spacer length. In addition, the aspect ratio in the housing is not so different from the conventional one because the longitudinal and lateral lengths of the housing should match a size of a display to be mounted thereon. As a result, the electronic components mounted on the motherboard have become closer to the housing's top and bottom surfaces, beyond the housing's flexure amount, and the electronic components have come into contact and/or collide with the housing's top and/or bottom surfaces directly or through the radiative plate, often getting damaged.
For example, a conventional structure shown in
FIG. 3
, that fixes motherboard
202
on bottom surface
214
of the housing
210
through spacer
208
would cause electronic components
204
mounted on the front side of the motherboard
202
itself through the electronic components
204
. Then, the electronic components
206
mounted on the rear side of the motherboard
202
come into contact and/or collide with the bottom surface
214
of the housing
210
, often getting damaged. These problems would possibly occur when the housing
210
is twisted.
In addition, the conventional structure show in
FIG. 3
cannot remove the vibration external to the housing, and the vibration often damages the electronic components. Such vibration frequency occurs especially in the PC having a keyboard. The conventional structure that provides a radiative plate between a motherboard and housing's top surface prevents the housing from becoming thinner and lighter due to the thickness and weight of the radiative plate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an exemplified general object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful electronic device in which the above disadvantages are eliminated.
Another exemplified and more specific object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that may appropriately protect electronic components from vibration and impact.
Still another and exemplified object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that may facilitate a slimmer and/or lighter body housing, while properly radiating heat from the electronic component.
In order to achieve the above objects, an electronic device of one aspect of the present invention includes an electronic component, a board mounted with the electronic component, and a rigid member connected to the spacer at both sides of the board. As the electronic device of the present invention provides the spacer near the electronic component and connects it to the rigid member, a flexure amount of the rigid member may become less than having a spacer around the board. For example, as shown in
FIG. 3
where the spacer exists between the rear side of the board and the bottom rigid member, the pressure applied to the top rigid member would bend the board, and any electronic component located at the rear side of the board. As a result, the electronic component at the rear side of the board would collide with the bottom rigid member and could be changed. The present invention uses the spacer to prevent the board from bending and the electronic component at the rear side of the board from colliding with the bottom rigid member. Preferably, the spacers are arranged almost symmetrically with respect to the board. The rigid member may be made of a pair of different rigid members, or may be one rigid member such that it includes top and bottom surfaces of the housing.
The spacer may include one or more members. The spacer composed of one member would penetrate the board near the electronic component. Such a spacer might, for example, have a doughnut shape surrounding the electronic component. The spacer composed of multiple members might use two spacer, each of which has the above doughnut shape arranged almost symmetrically with respect to the board, or has a cylindrical or polygonal column shape arranged at both sides of the board near the electronic component. Naturally, a shape of the spacer at one surface and that on the other surface need not be the same. The spacer, if made heat conductive, would transmit to the rigid member the heat generated by the electronic component.
Preferably, the rigid member is a radiative plate to provide heat radiation for the electronic component. Moreover, the rigid member, if configured as a housing that contains the electronic component, board and spacer, would result in a thinner and lighter housing than that having the rigid member and the housing independently. The spacer that enhances the housing's rigidity eliminates a necessity of increasing the housing's rigidity using the thick housing and thus would facilitate the thin and light housing. No additional member is required as a result of making the electronic device as a notebook PC and the rigid member as a radiative plate for its keyboard.
A shock absorber, if provided between the spacer and rigid member and/or between the spacer and board, would enable the vibration that was applied to the rigid member to be absorbed and prevent the heat transmission to the electronic component. The heat-conductive member, if provided between the electronic component and rigid member, would efficiently radiate the heat from the electronic component through the rigid member. The heat-conductive, member if serving as a shock absorber, would absorb the vibration applied to the rigid member, preventing the heat transmission to the electronic component.
An electronic device of another aspect of the present invention includes an electronic component which generates heat, a board mounted with the electronic component, a spacer located at both sides of the board near the electronic component, and a housing connected to the spacer and storing the electronic component, the board and the spacer. The spacer thus placed relative to the electronic component that is a heat source, such as an LSI, would enhance the housing's rigidity around the electronic component, and the housing may serve to radiate the heat as conducted by the conventionally required radiative plate.
An apparatus of another aspect of the present invention includes a component, a board mounted with the component, a spacer located on the board near the component, and a rigid member connected to the spacer. The apparatus of the present inv
Sato Masahiko
Shin Takahiro
Fujitsu Limited
Staas & Halsey , LLP
Thompson Gregory
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