TWI848862B - Positioning structure and electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

A positioning structure adapted to be mounted to a casing is provided. The casing has a groove adapted for accommodating a stylus, and the stylus has a first end. The positioning structure includes an elastic member, a sliding member, a positioning member, and a guiding member. The elastic member is disposed in the groove and one end of the elastic member is connected to the casing. The sliding member is slidably disposed in the groove and is connected to another end of the elastic member. The positioning member is rotatably and slidably disposed in the groove and abuts against the sliding member. The positioning member has at least one hook which is adapted to be engaged with the first end of the stylus. The guiding member is fixed in the groove and sleeved on the positioning member, and includes a first annul guiding portion. By pressing the stylus, the hook is able to be disengaged from the stylus, and thus the stylus is able to move out of the groove. An electronic device is also provided.

Description

Positioning structure and electronic device

The present disclosure relates to a positioning structure and an electronic device, and in particular to a positioning structure of a touch pen and an electronic device including the positioning structure.

With the development of touch display technology, touch display screens have been widely used in electronic devices such as smart phones, tablet computers or laptops. In order to improve touch accuracy and facilitate precise drawing and writing, touch pens have been proposed. In addition, in order to facilitate carrying the touch pen and avoid losing the touch pen, most of the above electronic devices are equipped with grooves for users to extract or store the touch pen. The common practice is to use a magnetic positioning mechanism to fix the touch pen in the groove, but the touch pen is easily slipped due to vibration or other external forces, so the risk of loss is extremely high.

The present disclosure provides a positioning structure and an electronic device, which are helpful to reduce the risk of losing a touch pen and improve the convenience of storing and extracting the touch pen.

The present disclosure provides a positioning structure suitable for being installed in a casing. The casing has a groove suitable for accommodating a stylus pen, and the stylus pen includes a first end. The positioning structure includes an elastic member, a sliding member, a positioning member and a guide member. The elastic member is disposed in the groove, and one end of the elastic member is connected to the casing. The sliding member is slidably disposed in the groove and connected to the other end of the elastic member. The positioning member is rotatably and slidably disposed in the groove and abuts against the sliding member. The positioning member has at least one hook suitable for engaging the first end of the stylus pen. The guide member is fixed to the groove and sleeved on the positioning member, and includes a first annular guide portion. When the hook is engaged with the first end of the stylus and the stylus receives a pressing force, the first end drives the positioning member to push the sliding member to slide along a first direction, and the sliding member squeezes the elastic member. When the pressing force is removed, the elastic member drives the sliding member to push the positioning member to slide along a second direction opposite to the first direction, so that the positioning member drives the stylus to move out of the groove along the second direction, and a part of the positioning member abuts against the first annular guide portion, and is guided by the first annular guide portion to rotate relative to the guide member and the stylus, so that the hook is separated from the stylus.

The present disclosure provides an electronic device, including a housing and the above-mentioned positioning structure. The housing has a groove suitable for accommodating a touch pen. The above-mentioned positioning structure is installed on the housing and is suitable for locking the touch pen in the groove or driving the touch pen to move out of the groove.

Based on the above, the stylus pen can be stored in the groove of the housing and fixed by the positioning structure, which not only has excellent portability but also helps to reduce the risk of loss. On the other hand, the user can apply pressure to the stylus pen to drive the positioning member to rotate relative to the stylus pen to release the positioning structure from the stylus pen. Then, after the pressure is removed, the positioning structure can drive the stylus pen to automatically move out of the groove, so that the user can pull the stylus pen out of the groove, so it has excellent operational convenience.

In order to make the above features and advantages of the present disclosure more clearly understood, embodiments are specifically cited below and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG1A is a schematic diagram of an electronic device in a first state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG1B is a schematic diagram of a partial enlargement of the positioning structure of FIG1A at different viewing angles. Referring to FIG1A and FIG1B , in the present embodiment, the electronic device 1 may be a smart phone, a tablet computer or a notebook computer, and includes a housing 20 and a positioning structure 100. The housing 20 has a groove 21 suitable for accommodating a stylus 10, wherein the positioning structure 100 is mounted on the housing 20 and disposed in the groove 21, for example, disposed near the bottom of the groove 21. In detail, the positioning structure 100 is suitable for clamping and fixing the stylus 10 in the groove 21 to facilitate the user to carry it and reduce the risk of loss. On the other hand, the positioning structure 100 is also suitable for driving the stylus pen 10 to move out of the groove 21 to facilitate the user to extract it.

The stylus pen 10 includes a first end 11 and a second end 12 opposite to the first end 11. In a first state, the first end 11 of the stylus pen 10 is locked and fixed by the positioning structure 100 to prevent the stylus pen 10 from accidentally slipping out of the groove 21 and being lost. On the other hand, the second end 12 of the stylus pen 10 is exposed to the housing 20 through the opening of the groove 21, so that the user can press and extract the second end 12 of the stylus pen 10.

In this embodiment, the positioning structure 100 includes an elastic member 120, a sliding member 130, a positioning member 140 and a guide member 150, wherein the elastic member 120 may be a compression spring and is disposed in the groove 21. The sliding member 130 is slidably disposed in the groove 21, wherein one end of the elastic member 120 is connected to the housing 20 (e.g., the bottom of the groove 21), and the other end of the elastic member 120 is connected to the sliding member 130. On the other hand, the positioning member 140 is rotatably and slidably disposed in the pen groove 21 and abuts against the sliding member 130. In detail, the sliding member 130 maintains contact with the positioning member 140 and can slide synchronously in the groove 21 along the first direction D1 or the second direction D2 opposite to the first direction D1.

In the first state, the positioning member 140 is engaged with the first end 11 of the stylus pen 10 to fix the stylus pen 10 in the groove 21. In this embodiment, the positioning member 140 has at least one hook 141, and the stylus pen 10 also has a slot 13 adjacent to the first end 11, a first diameter and a second diameter, wherein the first diameter is larger than the second diameter so that the cross section of the stylus pen 10 is generally a rectangle. In the first state, the hook 141 is engaged with the portion of the slot 13 corresponding to the first diameter to lock the first end 11, thereby fixing the stylus pen 10 in the groove 21. For example, the number of hooks 141 can be two and symmetrically arranged, but it is not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 1A , a charging element 112 is provided in the housing 20 corresponding to the groove 21, and the stylus pen 10 has an electrical contact 14 located at the second end 12. Specifically, when the stylus pen 10 is fixed in the groove 21, the charging element 112 can accurately contact the electrical contact 14 to charge the stylus pen 10. When the stylus pen 10 is fixed in the groove 21, the stylus pen 10 is not easily affected by vibration or other external forces and slides in the groove 21, so that the electrical contact 14 of the stylus pen 10 can be prevented from being separated from the charging element 112 and causing charging failure.

As shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B , the guide member 150 may be a guide sleeve fixed to the groove 21 and sleeved on the positioning member 140. When the positioning member 140 and the sliding member 130 slide synchronously along the first direction D1 or the second direction D2, the positioning member 140 may rotate unidirectionally relative to the guiding member 150 and the sliding member 130 under the guidance of the guiding member 150 and the sliding member 130, for example, rotate along the rotation direction R.

In this embodiment, the guide member 150 has a first annular guide portion 151 facing the sliding member 130, and the sliding member 130 has a second annular guide portion 131 facing the first annular guide portion 151. On the other hand, the positioning member 140 has a plurality of positioning ribs 142, and the extension direction of each positioning rib 142 is parallel to the first direction D1 or the second direction D2.

In the first state, the guide member 150 is separated from the sliding member 130, wherein the first annular guide portion 151 is separated from the second annular guide portion 131, and the first annular guide portion 151 and the second annular guide portion 131 are separated by a plurality of positioning ribs 142. Further, when the hook 141 of the positioning member 140 is engaged with the slot 13 of the first end 11, the first annular guide portion 151 is separated from the second annular guide portion 131 by the positioning ribs 142, wherein the positioning ribs 142 are located between the first annular guide portion 151 and the second annular guide portion 131, and opposite ends of the positioning ribs 142 contact the first annular guide portion 151 and the second annular guide portion 131, respectively. Since the first annular guiding portion 151 abuts against one end of the positioning rib 142 , the guiding member 150 can stop the positioning member 140 to prevent the positioning member 140 from sliding along the second direction D2 .

As shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B , the first annular guide portion 151 has a plurality of positioning stop surfaces 151a and a plurality of first guiding inclined surfaces 151b, and the second annular guide portion 131 has a plurality of positioning inclined surfaces 131a and a plurality of second guiding inclined surfaces 131b, wherein the second guiding inclined surfaces 131b are located between adjacent positioning inclined surfaces 131a. In addition, the guide member 150 further has a plurality of guiding grooves 152 connected to the first annular guide portion 151, and the extending direction of each guiding groove 152 is parallel to the first direction D1 or the second direction D2.

Further, a positioning bevel 131a is provided between two adjacent second guiding bevels 131b on the second annular guiding portion 131. In addition, a plurality of positioning stop faces 151a and a plurality of guiding grooves 152 are arranged alternately in the circumferential direction on the first annular guiding portion 151. For example, a positioning stop face 151a is provided between the adjacent first first guiding bevel 151b and the second first guiding bevel 151b, and a guiding groove 152 is provided between the adjacent second first guiding bevel 151b and the third first guiding bevel 151b, and so on.

That is to say, each guide groove 152 and each positioning stop surface 151a are located at opposite ends of each first guide inclined surface 151b, or, a staggered positioning stop surface 151a and a guide groove 152 are separated by a first guide inclined surface 151b, or, each first guide inclined surface 151b is located between a staggered positioning stop surface 151a and a guide groove 152.

As shown in FIG1A , the two ends of each positioning rib 142 respectively include a first matching slope 142a and a second matching slope 142b, wherein the first matching slope 142a is adjacent to the sliding member 130, and the angle of the first matching slope 142a corresponds to the angle of the positioning slope 131a. In addition, the second matching slope 142b is adjacent to the guide member 150, and the angle of the second matching slope 142b corresponds to the angle of the first guide slope 151b.

As shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B , in the first state, the first annular guide portion 151 is separated from the second annular guide portion 131, and the opposite ends of the positioning rib 142 contact the positioning stop surface 151a and the positioning inclined surface 131a at opposite positions. Since the positioning stop surface 151a abuts against one side of the positioning rib 142, the guide member 150 can stop the positioning member 140 to prevent the positioning member 140 from rotating along the rotation direction R.

FIG2A is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG1A being converted to the second state. FIG2B is a schematic diagram of a partial enlargement of the positioning structure of FIG2A at different viewing angles. Referring to FIG1A and FIG2A or FIG1B and FIG2C, when the second end 12 of the stylus 10 is pressed (e.g., subjected to a pressing force F), the first end 11 drives the positioning member 140 to push the sliding member 130 to slide along the first direction D1, so that the distance between the second annular guide portion 131 and the first annular guide portion 151 is increased, and the elastic member 120 is squeezed by the sliding member 130.

Specifically, when the positioning member 140 slides relative to the guide member 150 along the first direction D1, the positioning rib 142 moves away from the positioning stop surface 151a, but still keeps contact with the positioning inclined surface 131a. After the positioning rib 142 moves away from the positioning stop surface 151a, the elastic member 120 drives the sliding member 130 to slide along the second direction D2 and pushes the positioning rib 142 with the positioning inclined surface 131a, so that the positioning rib 142 is guided by the positioning inclined surface 131a and rotates relative to the guide member 150 along the rotation direction R, thereby moving to between the first guiding inclined surface 151b and the second guiding inclined surface 131b at opposite positions.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 2A being converted to a third state. FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 3A at another viewing angle. FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram of a partial enlargement of the positioning structure of FIG. 3A at different viewing angles. Referring to FIG. 2A to FIG. 3C, when the pressing force F applied to the second end 12 of the stylus 10 is removed, the elastic restoring force of the elastic member 120 drives the sliding member 130 to push against the positioning member 140 to slide along the second direction D2. In addition, when the positioning member 140 slides along the second direction D2, the positioning rib 142 abuts against the first annular guide portion 151, and is guided by the first guiding slope 151b of the first annular guide portion 151 to rotate along the rotation direction R relative to the guide member 150 and the stylus pen 10, so that the hook 141 turns to the other part of the slot 13 corresponding to the second diameter and separates from the slot 13 and detaches from the stylus pen 10, thereby releasing the engagement relationship between the hook 141 and the stylus pen 10.

Specifically, the elastic restoring force of the elastic member 120 drives the sliding member 130 to slide along the second direction D2, and the positioning rib 142 moves to between the second guiding slope 131b and the first guiding slope 151b under the guidance of the positioning slope 131a, and slides between the second guiding slope 131b and the first guiding slope 151b toward the guiding groove 152. In the process that the positioning member 140 is driven by the sliding member 130 to slide along the second direction D2, the positioning member 140 as a whole can rotate relative to the guiding member 150 along the rotation direction R through the cooperation of the positioning rib 142, the second guiding slope 131b and the first guiding slope 151b.

When the positioning rib 142 slides to align with the guide groove 152, the positioning rib 142 contacts the other positioning inclined surface 131a opposite to the guide groove 152, and the elastic member 120 drives the sliding member 130 to push the positioning member 140 to slide along the second direction D2, so that the positioning rib 142 moves into the guide groove 152. At the same time, the second annular guide portion 131 slides toward the first annular guide portion 151 and contacts the first annular guide portion 151.

After the second annular guide portion 131 contacts the first annular guide portion 151, the sliding member 130 and the positioning member 140 stop sliding, and the second end 12 of the stylus pen 10 moves out of the groove 21, so that the user can pull the stylus pen 10 out of the groove 21. In other words, when the positioning member 140 slides relative to the guide member 150 along the second direction D2, the positioning member 140 can push the first end 11 of the stylus pen 10, so that the entire stylus pen 10 slides along the second direction D2.

2B , 3B and 3C , when the positioning member 140 rotates along the rotation direction R relative to the guide member 150 and the stylus pen 10 , the positioning rib 142 slides from the positioning stop surface 151 a to the guide groove 152 , and the hook 141 separates from the slot 13 to release the engagement relationship between the positioning member 140 and the stylus pen 10 .

FIG4A is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG3A being converted to a fourth state. FIG4B is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG4A at another viewing angle. FIG4C is a schematic diagram of a partial enlargement of the positioning structure of FIG4A at different viewing angles. Please refer to FIG3A, FIG4A and FIG4C or FIG3C and FIG4C. When the user stores the stylus pen 10 back into the groove 21, the user can first insert the first end 11 of the stylus pen 10 into the groove 21 and make the first end 11 abut against the positioning member 140. Then, the second end 12 of the stylus pen 10 is pressed to push the positioning member 140 to slide relative to the guide member 150 along the first direction D1 through the first end 11, so that the positioning rib 142 moves out of the guide groove 152. At the same time, the sliding member 130 is pushed by the positioning member 140 to slide along the first direction D1, so that the first annular guiding portion 151 is separated from the second annular guiding portion 131 , and the elastic member 120 is squeezed by the sliding member 130 .

Please refer to FIG. 4B, FIG. 4C, FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. After the positioning rib 142 moves out of the guide groove 152, the positioning rib 142 keeps contact with the positioning inclined surface 131a, and moves to between the second guiding inclined surface 131b and the first guiding inclined surface 151b at the opposite position under the guidance of the positioning inclined surface 131a. When the pressing force F applied to the second end 12 of the stylus 10 is removed, the elastic restoring force of the elastic member 120 drives the sliding member 130 to slide along the second direction D2, and the positioning rib 142 slides between the second guiding inclined surface 131b and the first guiding inclined surface 151b toward the positioning stop surface 151a.

Furthermore, when the positioning member 140 is driven by the sliding member 130 to slide along the second direction D2, the positioning member 140 as a whole can rotate relative to the guiding member 150 along the rotation direction R through the cooperation of the positioning rib 142, the second guiding slope 131b and the first guiding slope 151b, so that the hook 141 rotates toward the portion of the card slot 13 corresponding to the first diameter and engages with the card slot 13 to lock the first end 11, so as to fix the stylus pen 10 in the groove 21. After the positioning rib 142 contacts the positioning stop surface 151a, the positioning member 140 stops rotating, and the sliding member 130 and the positioning member 140 stop sliding.

In summary, the stylus pen can be stored in the groove of the housing and is fixed by the positioning structure, which not only has excellent portability but also helps to reduce the risk of loss. On the other hand, the user can apply pressure to the stylus pen to drive the positioning member to rotate relative to the stylus pen to release the positioning structure from the stylus pen. Then, after the pressure is removed, the positioning structure can drive the stylus pen to automatically move out of the groove, so that the user can pull the stylus pen out of the groove, so it has excellent operational convenience. In addition, when the stylus pen is stored and fixed in the groove, the charging element can accurately contact the electrical contacts of the stylus pen to charge the stylus pen. When the stylus pen is locked and fixed in the groove, the stylus pen is not easily subjected to vibration or other external forces and slides in the groove, thereby preventing the electrical contacts of the stylus pen from being separated from the charging component and causing charging failure.

Although the present disclosure has been disclosed as above by way of embodiments, they are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any person having ordinary knowledge in the relevant technical field may make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the definition of the attached patent application scope.

1: electronic device 10: stylus 11: first end 12: second end 13: slot 14: electrical contact 20: housing 21: groove 100: positioning structure 112: charging element 120: elastic member 130: sliding member 131: second annular guide portion 131a: positioning slope 131b: second guide slope 140: positioning member 141: hook 142: positioning rib 142a: first matching slope 142b: second matching slope 150: guide member 151: first annular guide portion 151a: positioning stop surface 151b: first guide slope 152: guide groove D1: First direction D2: Second direction F: Pressing pressure R: Rotation direction

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an electronic device of an embodiment of the present disclosure in a first state. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a local enlargement of the positioning structure of FIG. 1A at different viewing angles. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 1A switching to a second state. FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of a local enlargement of the positioning structure of FIG. 2A at different viewing angles. FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 2A switching to a third state. FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 3A at another viewing angle. FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram of a local enlargement of the positioning structure of FIG. 3A at different viewing angles. FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 3A switching to a fourth state. FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 4A at another viewing angle. FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram of a local enlargement of the positioning structure of FIG. 4A at different viewing angles.

1: Electronic devices

10: Touch pen

11: First end

12: Second end

13: Card slot

14: Electrical contacts

20: Chassis

21: Groove

100: Positioning structure

112: Charging element

120: Elastic parts

130: Sliding part

131: Second annular guide part

131a: Positioning slope

131b: Second guiding slope

140: Positioning piece

141: Hook

142: Positioning ribs

142a: First matching slope

142b: Second matching bevel

150: Guide piece

151: First annular guide part

151a: Positioning stop surface

151b: First guiding slope

D1: First direction

D2: Second direction

Claims (11)

A positioning structure is suitable for being installed in a housing, the housing having a groove, the groove being suitable for accommodating a stylus, the stylus including a first end, the positioning structure comprising: an elastic member disposed in the groove, one end of the elastic member being connected to the housing; a sliding member being slidably disposed in the groove and connected to the other end of the elastic member; a positioning member being rotatably and slidably disposed in the groove and abutting against the sliding member, the positioning member having at least one hook suitable for engaging the first end of the stylus; and a guide member being fixed in the groove and sleeved on the positioning member, and comprising a first annular guide portion, When the hook is engaged with the first end of the stylus and the stylus receives a pressing force, the first end drives the positioning member to push the sliding member to slide along a first direction, and the sliding member squeezes the elastic member. When the pressing force is removed, the elastic member drives the sliding member to push the positioning member to slide along a second direction opposite to the first direction, so that the positioning member drives the stylus to move out of the groove along the second direction, and a part of the positioning member abuts against the first annular guide portion, and is guided by the first annular guide portion to rotate relative to the guide member and the stylus, so that the hook is separated from the stylus. A positioning structure as described in claim 1, wherein the first annular guide portion faces the sliding member, and the sliding member has a second annular guide portion facing the first annular guide portion, and the positioning member has a plurality of positioning ribs, and when the hook engages the first end, the positioning ribs are located between the second annular guide portion and the first annular guide portion, and the opposite ends of each positioning rib respectively contact the second annular guide portion and the first annular guide portion. A positioning structure as described in claim 2, wherein the second annular guide portion has a plurality of positioning inclined surfaces, and the first annular guide portion has a plurality of positioning stop surfaces, and when the hook engages the first end, the opposite ends of each positioning rib respectively contact the positioning stop surface and the positioning inclined surface at the opposite position. A positioning structure as described in claim 3, wherein the first annular guide portion also has a plurality of first guiding inclined surfaces, the guide member also has a plurality of guiding grooves connected to the first annular guide portion, and each of the guiding grooves and each of the positioning stop surfaces are located at opposite ends of each of the first guiding inclined surfaces. A positioning structure as described in claim 4, wherein the second annular guide portion also has a plurality of second guide slopes, after the first end drives the positioning member to slide along the first direction so that each positioning rib moves away from the corresponding positioning stop surface, the sliding member is driven by the elastic member to slide along the second direction, and each positioning rib moves to a position between the first guide slope and the second guide slope at a relative position through each positioning slope, so as to slide and rotate between the first guide slope and the second guide slope. A positioning structure as described in claim 5, wherein when each positioning rib slides to align with the guide groove, the elastic member drives the sliding member to push the positioning member to slide along the second direction so that the positioning rib moves into the guide groove. A positioning structure as described in claim 5, wherein each of the second guiding slopes is located between the adjacent positioning slopes. A positioning structure as described in claim 5, wherein the two ends of each positioning rib respectively include a first mating bevel and a second mating bevel, the first mating bevel is adjacent to the sliding member and the angle of the first mating bevel corresponds to the angle of the positioning bevel, and the second mating bevel is adjacent to the guide member and the angle of the second mating bevel corresponds to the angle of the first guide bevel. A positioning structure as described in claim 1, wherein the stylus pen has a first diameter, a second diameter and a slot adjacent to the first end, the first diameter is larger than the second diameter, and the hook is suitable for engaging with a portion of the slot corresponding to the first diameter. When the hook engages with the slot and the elastic member drives the sliding member to push the positioning member to slide along the second direction, the positioning member rotates relative to the guide member and the stylus pen, causing the hook to rotate toward another portion of the slot corresponding to the second diameter and disengage from the slot. A positioning structure as described in claim 1, wherein a charging element is provided in the casing corresponding to the groove, and the stylus pen also has a second end opposite to the first end and an electrical contact located at the second end, and when the stylus pen is engaged in the groove by the hook, the charging element contacts the electrical contact. An electronic device comprises: a housing having a groove, wherein the groove is suitable for receiving a stylus; and a positioning structure as described in any one of claims 1 to 10, which is installed on the housing and is suitable for engaging the stylus in the groove or moving the stylus out of the groove.

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