TWI399160B - Latch structure - Google Patents

Description

Latch structure

The present invention relates to a latch structure, and more particularly to a latch structure for a replaceable module.

Notebook computers have always been demanded for thinness and lightness, so many ordinary personal computers are installed, but for notebook computers, they are selectively installed, such as floppy disk drives, hard disk drives, and optical disk drives. Some devices, for notebook computers, are devices that must be replaced frequently, such as a second battery. As a result, the notebook computer industry has evolved some of the swapping structures that are usually fixed and easy to replace when they need to be replaced.

At present, the industry has the following approach to this swap structure. One is to fix the exchange structure in the main body. However, the current exchange structure is often set in a buckle manner in order to facilitate the exchange. The size of the design is often too large, with many components such as springs, and at least a dozen components in some of the swapping structures. Therefore, the installation of such a replacement structure is complicated, the cost of the components is high, and the weight of the entire host is also increased.

Another method is to place the replacement structure on a device that needs to be replaced or is not installed when the fashion is installed, so that the weight of the system can be reduced when the device is not used. However, the components of such a swap structure are still complicated, occupying an area that is too large, and a swapping structure must be provided on each device. How to simplify the design of the swap structure to reduce the area occupied and reduce the cost is one of the direction of the industry.

The present invention relates to a latch structure that can be used to latch a module to a notebook body for easy replacement. The latch structure has the advantages of simple structure, low cost and easy installation.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a latch structure is provided for latching a module to a main body of a notebook computer. The main body of the notebook computer has a bump and a slot body, and the module is configured to be received in the slot body. The fixing structure is fixed on the inner side of the tank body, and the latch structure comprises: a latching disc, a latching rail member and a shaft member. The latch disk has a first rotating aperture. The latch rail member extends in a track direction, the latch rail member has a first end and a second end, and has a second rotating hole corresponding to the first rotating hole at the first end, and has a track direction extending at the second end The track groove, the track groove accommodates the bump, and has a hook on the side of the second end. The rotating shaft member penetrates the first rotating hole and the second rotating hole, and the latch plate can rotate the shaft member to the second position from the first position. The module has a securing member. When the latching disc is in the first position, the securing member is restrained between the hook and the latching disc to latch the module in the slot. Wherein, when the latch disk is in the second position, the latch track member is movable relative to the protrusion, and the hook member drives the fixing member to move the module toward the outside of the groove body.

In order to provide a better understanding of the above and other aspects of the present invention, the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawings

Referring to FIG. 1 , a top perspective view of a latch structure 100 , a module 200 , and a notebook computer main body 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The latch structure 100 included therein is used to latch the module 200 to the note The computer main body 300. The notebook main body 300 has a bump 340 (not shown in FIG. 1) and a trough body 310. Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a top perspective view of a portion of the slot body 310 of the notebook computer main body 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The latch structure 100 and the module 200 are used to be received in the slot 310. The bump 340 (not shown in FIG. 2) is fixed to the inside of the groove 310.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, respectively, a bottom perspective view and a top perspective view of the latch structure 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention are shown. The latch structure 100 includes a latch disk 110, a latch track member 120, and a shaft member 130. The latch disk 110 has a first rotation hole 111. The latch track member 120 extends in the track direction D1, and the latch track member 120 has a first end 121 and a second end 122. At the first end 121, the latch rail member 120 has a second rotation hole 123 corresponding to the first rotation hole 111. At the second end 122, the latch track member 120 has a track groove 124 extending in the track direction D1 for receiving the bump 340 in FIG. At the side of the second end 122, the latch track member 120 has a hook member 125. The shaft member 130 extends through the first rotating hole 111 and the second rotating hole 123, and the latching disk 110 can rotate the shaft member 130 to the second position from the first position. Wherein, the shaft member can be composed of rivets. In Figures 1, 2, 3A and 3B, the latch structure 100 is shown with the latch disk 110 in the first position.

As shown in FIG. 2, the module 200 has a securing member 220. When the latching disc 110 is in the first position, the securing member 220 is constrained between the hook member 125 and the latching disc 110. The set 200 is latched in the trough body 310.

Referring to FIG. 4, a bottom view of the latch structure 100 in a second position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown. When the latching disk 110 is in the second position, the latching track member 120 is movable relative to the protrusion 340, and the hooking member 125 drives the fixing member 220 to move the module 200 to the outside of the slot 310.

As shown in FIG. 2, the notebook main body 300 has an outer surface 320, and a notch 310a is formed between the trough body 310 and the outer surface 320. The latch disk 110 has a side portion 113. When the latch disk 110 is in the first position, the side portion 113 is located in the slot 310a and is substantially coplanar with the outer surface 320. As shown in FIG. 4, when the latch disk 110 is in the second position, one portion of the latch disk 110 and a portion of the side portion 113 protrude from the notch 310a. In more detail, the side portion 113 of the latch structure 100 has a first side 114 and a second side 116. When the latch disk 110 is in the second position, the first side 114 is located within the slot 310 and the second side 116 is located outside of the slot 310.

As shown in FIG. 4, the first side 114 of the side portion 113 has a ridge 115 for the user to press when the latch disk 110 is in the first position. The second side 116 of the side portion 113 has a protrusion 117 for the user to apply force to drive the latch disk 100 to rotate when the second side 116 of the side portion 113 is located outside the slot body 310.

Hereinafter, how the latch structure 100 removes the module 200 latched to the notebook main body 300 and how to latch the module 200 to the notebook main body 300 will be described. Referring to FIGS. 5A-5E, a bottom cross-sectional flow diagram of the latch structure 100 for unlatching the module 200 from the notebook body 300 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown in FIG. 5A , the module 200 has a fixing member 220 and a thin portion 210 , and the fixing member 220 is disposed in the module 200 at the edge of the thin portion 210 . When the latch disk 110 is in the first position as shown in FIG. 5A, the fixing member 220 is restrained between the hook member 125 and the latch disk 110 to latch the module 200 in the slot body 310. At this time, the user has to press the rib 115 of the latch disk 110, and the latch disk 110 is thus rotated by the principle of the lever. In this embodiment, for example, the distance from the ridge 115 to the shaft member 130 is set to be smaller than the distance S2 from the protrusion 117 of the latch disk 110 to the shaft member 130.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the ridge 115 is pressed, only a small distance of the ridge 115 is required to push the protrusion 117 a large distance, so that the protrusion 117 is located in the notebook main body 300. The slot 310a is outside. Here, the user can apply the force to the protrusion 117 to drive the latch disk 110 to rotate. In this embodiment, the user can press the ribs 115 with the thumb and the index finger 117 with the index finger to drive the latch disk 110 to rotate. Such an action can be done with only one hand.

When the user rotates the latch disk 110 to the second position, as shown in FIG. 5C, one portion of the latch disk 110 and a portion of the side portion 113 protrude from the slot 310a such that the ridge 115 is located in the slot 310. The protrusion 117 is located outside the groove body 310. There is a space S3 between the latch disk 110 and the module 200, and the space S3 is larger than the space S4 occupied by the fixing member 220.

As shown in FIG. 5D, the latch track member 120 is movable relative to the bump 340. Therefore, the user has to hold the latch disk 110 to pull the outside of the slot body 310, and the latching plate 110 is connected to the hook member 125 of the latch rail member 120 to drive the fixing member 220 to move the module 200 toward the slot body 310. The outer side moves, so that the module 200 protrudes from the notch 310a, which is convenient for the user to hold.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5E, since the space S3 exists between the latch disk 110 and the module 200, and the space S3 is larger than the space S4 occupied by the fixing member 220, the fixing member 220 can be allowed to pass. Thereby, the user has to hold the module 200 and directly pull the module 200 away from the tank 310.

On the contrary, if the module 200 is to be latched on the notebook main body 300, the module 200 is pushed into the trough body 310, and the fixing member 220 thus drives the hook member 125 to move into the trough body 310, and the strap will be latched. The rail member 120 and the latch disc 110 are moved in the direction of the inside of the trough body 310. The latching disk 110 is rotated from the second position to the first position, thereby fixing the fixing member 220 between the hook member 125 and the latching disk 110, so that the module 200 is latched to the notebook computer body 300. In the tank 310.

Referring to FIG. 6 , a bottom perspective view of the latch disk 110 of the latch structure 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is fixed to the notebook main body 300 by using the fixing member 330 . The notebook main body 300 has a fixing member 330 having a fixing hole 112 (as shown in FIG. 3A). When the latch disk 110 is in the first position, the fixing member 330 can be disposed in the fixing hole 112 of the latch disk 110 to fix the latch disk 110 to the notebook body 300. As shown in Fig. 6, the fixing member 330 is composed of, for example, a through hole 330a and a screw 330b. When the latch disk 110 is in the first position, the position of the through hole 330a corresponds to the position of the fixing hole 112, and can be locked to the latch disk 110 from the outer side of the notebook main body 300 by the screw 330b passing through the through hole 330a. The fixing hole 112 is for fixing the latch disk 110 to the notebook main body 300. Conversely, when the screw 330b is removed from the notebook main body 300, the fixing hole 112 of the latch disk 110 is no longer locked by the screw 330b, and the latch disk 110 will be rotated.

The fixing member 330 can also be, for example, a component such as a cassette that can fix the fixing hole 112 to the notebook body 300. And the fixing hole 112, the first A metal ring is further disposed in the rotating hole 111 and the second rotating hole 123 to increase the service life and durability of the hole. A thread corresponding to the screw 330b may also be disposed in the metal ring of the fixing hole 112 for the screw 330b to be locked.

Referring to Fig. 7, a cross-sectional view taken along line L1-L1' in Fig. 4 is shown. The latching disc 110 further has a first engaging portion 118. The latching rail member 120 further has a second engaging portion 126. When the latching disc 110 is rotated to the second position, the first engaging portion 118 and the second engaging portion are engaged. The portion 126 is engaged to secure the latch disk 110 to the second position. In the embodiment, the first engaging portion 118 is, for example, a bump, and the second engaging portion 126 is, for example, a groove. The second engaging portion 126 has a circular arc shape 126a near the side portion 113 of the latch disk 110.

Referring to Fig. 8, a cross-sectional perspective view taken along line L2-L2' in Fig. 5A is shown. The bump 340 is fixed to the inner side of the groove body 310. In the present embodiment, the bump 340 is integrally formed, for example, with the notebook main body 300. As shown in FIG. 8, the track groove 124 of the latch track member 120 can accommodate the bump 340 of the notebook body 300. The cross-sectional shape of the bump 340 is, for example, a "T" shape, and the cross-section of the accommodating space of the track groove 124 is, for example, a "work" shape, and the bump 340 is received in the accommodating space of the track groove 124.

Referring to Figures 9A and 9B, a cross-sectional perspective view taken along line L3-L3' in Fig. 8 is shown. The bump 340 has a first bevel 340a that is located adjacent the second end 122 of the latch track member 120. The track groove 124 has a second bevel 124a that is adjacent the second end 122 of the latch track member 120. The first slope 340a faces the first end 121 and the second slope 124a faces the second end 122. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9A, when the latch rail member 120 is mounted on the notebook main body 300, the bump 340 is aligned with the accommodating space of the track groove 124, and the track groove 124 is removed from the slot. 310a is mounted in the trough body 310 such that the first inclined surface 340a is in contact with the second inclined surface 124a. As shown in FIG. 9B, after the track groove 124 moves from the slot 310a into the slot 310 to the first slope 340a and the second slope 124a, the bump 340 is received in the track groove 124. . By the bumps 340, the track grooves 124 can be moved along a certain range without disengaging from the groove body 310.

In this embodiment, the module 200 can be, for example, a module such as a floppy disk drive, a hard butterfly machine, a CD player, or a second battery, and a dummy model that fills the space when the module is not required to be installed. As shown in Fig. 2, the module 200 has a thin, thin portion 210 whose thin portion 210 is designed, for example, to have a width W of about 25 mm. The size of the latch structure 100 is, for example, limited to a width of 25 mm and a length of 30 mm, and the width W of the thin portion 210 is matched by the width of the latch structure 100, and the latch structure 100 is disposed below the thin portion 210 and adjacent to the outer slot. 310a.

The above embodiments of the present invention relate to a latch structure for latching a module into a main body of a notebook by a latching structure with only a single fixing member. Moreover, when the latch is released, the action of releasing the latch can be operated with only one hand. The latch structure of the above embodiment occupies a small size and is light in weight, requires a small number of parts and is easy to assemble, and the part can also be manufactured by using a lower cost injection molding or die casting method, thereby achieving a thin and light notebook computer. The short appeal can also achieve the effect of reducing costs, and it is more convenient for the user to operate.

In conclusion, the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, but it is not intended to limit the present invention. A person skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100. . . Latch structure

110. . . Latch plate

111. . . First rotating hole

112. . . Fixed hole

113. . . Side

114. . . First side

115. . . Rib

116. . . Second side

117. . . Protrusion

118. . . First engagement

120. . . Latch track member

121. . . First end

122. . . Second end

123. . . Second rotating hole

124. . . Track groove

124a. . . Second slope

125. . . Hook

126. . . Second engagement

126a. . . semi circle

130. . . Shaft part

200. . . Module

210. . . Trapezoidal part

220. . . Retaining member

300. . . Notebook main body

310. . . Slot

310a. . . notch

320. . . The outer surface

330. . . Fastener

330a. . . Through hole

330b. . . Screw

340. . . Bump

340a. . . First slope

D1. . . Orbital direction

L1-L1', L2-L2', L3-L3'. . . line

S1, S2. . . distance

S3, S4. . . space

W. . . width

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a latch structure, a module, and a notebook computer body according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of a portion of a body of a notebook computer according to an embodiment of the invention.

3A is a bottom perspective view of the latch structure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3B is a top perspective view of the latch structure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a bottom plan view of the latch structure in a second position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

5A-5E are bottom cross-sectional views showing the latch structure for unlatching the module from the body of the notebook computer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view showing the latching disk of the latch structure according to the embodiment of the present invention fixed to the main body of the notebook by using a fixing member.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line L1-L1' in Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional perspective view taken along line L2-L2' in Fig. 5A.

9A and 9B are cross-sectional perspective views taken along line L3-L3' in Fig. 8.

100. . . Latch structure

110. . . Latch plate

111. . . First rotating hole

112. . . Fixed hole

113. . . Side

114. . . First side

115. . . Rib

116. . . Second side

117. . . Protrusion

118. . . First engagement

120. . . Latch track piece

121. . . First end

122. . . Second end

123. . . Second rotating hole

124. . . Track groove

125. . . Hook

126. . . Second engagement

130. . . Shaft part

D1. . . Orbital direction

Claims (10)

A latching structure for latching a module to a notebook computer body, the notebook computer body having a bump and a slot body, the module being for receiving in the slot body, the bump The latching structure comprises: a latching disc having a first rotating hole; a latching rail member extending in a track direction, the latching rail member having a first And a second end, the first end has a second rotating hole corresponding to one of the first rotating holes, and the second end has a track groove extending along the track direction, the track groove The latching member has a hook member on a side of the second end; and a rotating shaft member extends through the first rotating hole and the second rotating hole, and the latching plate can be a shaft of the rotating shaft member. Rotating from a first position to a second position; wherein the module has a securing member, the securing member being constrained to the hook and the latch when the latching disk is in the first position Between the lock discs, the module is latched in the slot; wherein the latch is when the latch disc is in the second position Rail member can move relative to the protrusion, the hook member driven by the fixing stopper member to move the module to the outer tank. The latching structure of claim 1, wherein the main body of the notebook computer has an outer surface, and a slot is formed between the slot body and the outer surface, the latching disk has a side portion. When the latch disk is in the first position, the side portion is located at the notch and substantially in the same plane as the outer surface, and the latch disk is located when the latch disk is in the second position A portion and a portion of the side portion protrude from the slot. The latching structure of claim 2, wherein the side portion has a first side and a second side, and the first side is located in the slot when the latching disk is in the second position Within the body, the second side is located outside the trough. The latching structure of claim 3, wherein the first side of the side portion has a ridge for pressing by the user when the latching disk is in the first position, the side portion The second side has a protrusion for the user to apply force to drive the latch disk to rotate when the second side of the side portion is outside the slot. The latch structure of claim 4, wherein the distance from the rib to the first rotating hole is smaller than the distance from the protrusion to the first rotating hole. The latch structure of claim 1, wherein the notebook main system has a fixing member, the latching disc having a fixing hole, when the latching disc is in the first position, The fixing member is disposed in the fixing hole to fix the latch disk to the notebook main body. The latching structure of claim 6, wherein a metal ring is further disposed in the fixing hole. The latching structure of claim 1, wherein the latching disk has a space between the latching disk and the module when the latching disk is in the second position, the space is such that the securing member passes . The latching structure of claim 1, wherein the latching disc further has a first engaging portion, the latching rail member further having a second engaging portion, when the latching disc is rotated to In the second position, the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion are engaged to fix the latching disk to the second position, and the first engaging portion is a bump, the first The two engaging portions are a groove. The latch structure of claim 1, wherein the bump has a first slope, the first slope of the bump is adjacent to the second end of the latch rail member, and the rail The groove has a second bevel that is adjacent to the second end of the latch rail member, the first bevel facing the first end, the second bevel facing the second end.