US20130034973A1

US20130034973A1 - Electronic device and connection port thereof

Info

Publication number: US20130034973A1
Application number: US13/562,331
Authority: US
Inventors: Hung-Tien Chang; Chien-Chia Huang
Original assignee: Compal Electronics Inc
Current assignee: Compal Electronics Inc
Priority date: 2011-08-02
Filing date: 2012-07-31
Publication date: 2013-02-07
Also published as: CN102915081A; TWI473359B; US20130034979A1; US8920180B2; CN102981565B; TW201308054A; TW201308774A; CN102981565A

Abstract

A portable electronic device including a main body and a connection port is provided. The main body has a containing cavity. The connection port includes a supporting component and a connector. The supporting component is slidably disposed at the main body along a sliding direction and slides between an accommodating position and an operation position relative to the main body. The connector is disposed on the supporting component and has a plugging direction. When the supporting component is located at the accommodating position, the connector is contained in the containing cavity and the plugging direction is perpendicular to the sliding direction. When the supporting component is located at the operation position, the connector is located out of the containing cavity, and the supporting component has a tilting angle relative to the main body.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/514,456, filed on Aug. 2, 2011. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an electronic device and a connection port thereof and more particularly, to a portable electronic device and a connection port thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the rapid development of science and technology, portable devices such as tablet computers or notebook computers (NBs) have been broadly used due to portable carrying and easy operation. Most of the NBs are equipped with connection ports for connecting analog video signal transmission (D-sub) connectors, for example.
A video connection port of the NB is mostly disposed at a side edge of the NB, and thus, the thickness of its chassis must be greater than the thickness of the connection port so as to entirely enclose the connection port. In other words, the thickness at the side of the NB should be at least equal to its chassis thickness plus the thickness of the connection port for successfully disposing the connection port at the NB. In order to disposing the video connection port at the NB, the chassis thickness has to be designed as greater than the universal norm height of the video connection port. As a result, the design manner of the current connection ports limits miniaturization development of the NBs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a portable electronic device, having a connection port with a smaller in height.
The present invention is directed to a connection port having a smaller in height.
The present invention is directed to a portable electronic device including a main body and a connection port. The main body has a containing cavity. The connection port includes a supporting component and a connector. The supporting component is slidably disposed at the main body along a sliding direction and slides between an accommodating position and an operation position relative to the main body. The connector is disposed on the supporting component and has a plugging direction. When the supporting component is located at the accommodating position, the connector is contained in the containing cavity, and the plugging direction is perpendicular to the sliding direction. When the supporting component is located at the operation position, the connector is located out of the containing cavity, and the supporting component has a tilting angle relative to the main body.
The present invention is directed to a connection port, adapted to a portable electronic device. The portable electronic device includes a main body. The main body has a containing cavity. The connection port includes a supporting component and a connector. The supporting component is slidably disposed at the main body along a sliding direction and slides between an accommodating position and an operation position relative to the main body. The connector is disposed on the supporting component and has a plugging direction. When the supporting component is located at the accommodating position, the connector is contained in the containing cavity, and the plugging direction is perpendicular to the sliding direction. When the supporting component is located at the operation position, the connector is located out of the containing cavity, and the supporting component has a tilting angle relative to the main body.
In an embodiment of the present invention, when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position, a height of the connector in the plugging direction is smaller than a length of the connector in the sliding direction.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the main body is placed on a surface. When the supporting component is located at the operation position, the supporting component is rotated relative to the main body to lean against the surface so as to drive the connector to tilt from the surface.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the containing cavity has an opening. The connector is moved in and out of the containing cavity through the opening. The supporting component has a covering plate and the covering plate covers the opening when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position.
In an embodiment of the present invention, when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position, the covering plate and the main body are co-planar.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the connection port further comprises a connection wire, and the main body has a circuit board therein. The connection wire is connected between the connector and the circuit board and flexed with the supporting component sliding and tilting.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the main body is placed on a surface. When the supporting component is located at the operation position, the supporting component tilts and slides relative to the main body to lean against the surface so as to drive the connector to tilt from the surface.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the main body has a stopping structure located in the containing cavity. When the supporting component is located at the operation position, the supporting component leans against the stopping structure to limit the tilting angle of the supporting component.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the stopping structure has at least one sliding slot, and the supporting component has a sliding portion slidably disposed in the sliding slot. When the supporting component is located at the operation position, the sliding portion leans against one end of the sliding portion so as to limit the tilting angle of the supporting component.
Based on the above, with the supporting component of the connection port of the present invention, the connector is driven to be hidden in the containing cavity of the main body or to be moved out of the containing cavity. When the user does not use the connection port, the connector on the supporting component can be contained in the main body in a proper angle for having a smaller in height. When the connection port is to be used, the connector is moved out of the main body to allow the supporting component to tilt, so that the connector tilts in an angle suitable for plugging an external connector. With such design of the connection port capable of adjusting the connector angle, the thickness of the main body of the portable electronic device can be correspondingly reduced so as to meet the miniaturization trend of the portable electronic device.
In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanying figures are described in detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings constituting a part of this specification are incorporated herein to provide a further understanding of the invention. Here, the drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating a portable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A through FIG. 2C are flowcharts of operating the connection port depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating the portable electronic device depicted in FIG. 2C.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrated an external connector plugged in the connector depicted in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of components of the portable electronic device depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a partial three-dimensional diagram illustrating a portable electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating the portable electronic device depicted in FIG. 6 from another view angle.

FIG. 8 is a side diagram illustrating the portable electronic device of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating the portable electronic device depicted in FIG. 6 from still another view angle.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating a portable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A through FIG. 2C are flowcharts of operating the connection port depicted in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A, a portable electronic device 100 of the present embodiment includes a main body 110 and a connection port 120. The main body 110 has a containing cavity 112. The connection port 120 includes a supporting component 122 and a connector 124. The supporting component 122 is slidably disposed at the main body 110, and the connector 124 is disposed on the supporting component 122.
The supporting component 122 is adapted to slide between an accommodating position P1 illustrated in FIG. 2A and an operation position P2 illustrated in FIG. 2B relative to the main body 110. When the supporting component 122 is located at the accommodating position P1, the connector 124 is contained in the containing cavity 112. When the supporting component 122 is located at the operation position P2, the connector 124 is located out of the containing cavity 112, as shown in FIG. 2B.
FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating the portable electronic device depicted in FIG. 2C. When the supporting component 122 is located at the operation position P2, the supporting component 122 is adapted to rotate relative to the main body 110 so as to drive the connector 124 to have a tilting angel relative to the main body 110, as shown in FIG. 2C and FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrated an external connector plugged in the connector depicted in FIG. 3. When the connector 124 tilts as illustrated in FIG. 3, a user may plug an external connector 50 in the connector 124 (depicted in FIG. 3), as shown in FIG. 4.
In the aforementioned disposition, the connection port 120 drives the connector 124 to be hidden in the containing cavity 112 of the main body 110 or to be moved out of the containing cavity 112 by the supporting component 122. When the user does not use the connection port 120, the connector 124 on the supporting component 122 is contained in the main body 110 in a proper angle, as shown in FIG. 2A, for having a smaller in height. When the connection port 120 is to be used, the connector 124 is moved out of the main body 110, as shown in FIG. 2B, to allow the supporting component 122 to tilt, as shown in FIG. 2C, so that the connector 124 tilts in an angle suitable for plugging the external connector 50. With such design of the connection port 120 capable of adjusting the angle of the connector 124, the thickness of the main body 110 of the portable electronic device 100 can be correspondingly reduced so as to meet the miniaturization trend of the portable electronic device.
The portable electronic device 100 of the present embodiment is, for example, a notebook computer (NB), and the main body 110 is a host of the NB. The connector 124 is, for example, an analog video signal transmission (D-sub) connector, and the external connector 50 is, for example, an analog video signal transmission (D-sub) joint. In other embodiments, the portable electronic device 100 may be any other type of device, the connector 124 and the external connector 50 may be any other type of connection interface, and the invention is not limited thereto.
Referring to FIG. 2A, in detail, the supporting component 124 of the present embodiment is slidably disposed at the main body 110 along a sliding direction D1. The connector 124 has a plugging direction D2. When the supporting component 122 is located at the accommodating position P1, the plugging direction D2 is perpendicular to the sliding direction D1, and a height H of the connector 124 in the plugging direction D2 is smaller than a length L of the connector 124 in the sliding direction D1. By containing the connector 124 in the main body 110 as the plugging direction D2 is perpendicular to the sliding direction D1, the connector 124 has a smaller in height H so as to reduce the thickness of the main body 110. When the connector 124 is in the sate as illustrated in FIG. 2C, the plugging direction D2 of the connector 124 tilts so that the connector 124 is adapted to plug the external connector 50 along the plugging direction D2, as shown in FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 2A though FIG. 2C, in the present embodiment, the main body 110 is adapted to be placed on a surface S. When the supporting component 124 is located at the operation position P2, the supporting component 124 is adapted to rotate relative to the main body 110 or to tilt and slide relative to the main body 110 so as to lean against the surface S, as shown in FIG. 2C. Thus, the connector 124 is driven to tilt from the surface S, and the position of the connector 124 is steadily fixed with support of the surface S, so that the external connector 50 is plugged in the connector 124, as shown in FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, the containing cavity 112 has an opening 112 a, the connector 124 is moved in or out of the containing cavity 112 through the opening 112 a. The supporting component 122 of the present embodiment has a covering plate 122 a. When the supporting component 122 is located at the accommodating position P1, the covering plate 122 a covers the opening 112 a so that the connector 124 is hidden in the main body 110. Accordingly, the portable electronic device 100 can have a better appearance and protect the connector 124 from being polluted by dust from the outside. When the supporting component 122 is located at the accommodating position P1 and the covering plate 122 a covers the opening 112 a, the covering plate 122 a and the main body 110 are co-planar so that the portable electronic device 100 has a better appearance.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of components of the portable electronic device depicted in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2A with FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the connection port 120 further includes a flexible connection wire 126. The main body 110 has a circuit board 114 therein. The circuit board 114 is, for example, a motherboard of the NB. The connection wire 126 is connected between the connector 124 and the circuit board 114 for signal transmission. When the supporting component 124 is operated in the state as illustrated in FIG. 2B or FIG. 2C, the connection wire 126 is adapted to be flexed with the supporting component 124 sliding and tilting. With the flexible feature of the connection wire 126, the electrical connection between the connector 124 and the circuit board 114 is maintained through the connection wire 126 while the supporting component 124 drives the connector 124 to be operated.
FIG. 6 is a partial three-dimensional diagram illustrating a portable electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating the portable electronic device depicted in FIG. 6 from another view angle. FIG. 8 is a side diagram illustrating the portable electronic device of FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 6 through FIG. 8, a portable electronic device 200 of the present embodiment, a main body 210 has a stopping structure 216. The stopping structure 216 is located in a containing cavity 212 of the main body 210. When a supporting component 222 is located at an operation position P2′, as shown in FIG. 6 through FIG. 8, the supporting component 222 leans against the stopping structure 216 to limit a tilting angle of the supporting component 222.
In detail, the stopping structure 216 has at least one sliding slot 216 a (illustrated as two), and the supporting component 222 has a sliding portion 222 b. The sliding portion 222 b of the supporting component 222 is slidably disposed in the sliding slot 216 a of the stopping structure 216 so that the supporting component 222 is adapted to slide along the sliding slot 216 a by the sliding portion 222 b to be contained in the containing cavity 212 of the main body 210 or to be moved to the operation position P2′, as shown in FIG. 6 through FIG. 8. When the supporting component 222 is located at the operation position P2′, the sliding portion 222 b leans against an end 216 b of the sliding slot 216 a, as shown in FIG. 7, to limit the tilting angle of the supporting component 222. Thus, as shown in FIG. 8, the supporting component 222 can not only steadily fix the position of the connector 224 with support of a surface S′, but also increase the entire structure strength with interference of the stopping structure 216 and the sliding portion 222 b, so that the supporting component 222 can bear the force applied from the user plugging an external connector to the connector 224
FIG. 9 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating the portable electronic device depicted in FIG. 6 from still another view angle. Referring to FIG. 9, the supporting component 222 of the present embodiment has a concave slot 222 c. For a more convenient operation, the user can apply force on the concave slot 222 c to drive the supporting component 222. In other embodiments, a convex rid or any other suitable structure can be formed on the supporting component 222 for the user to apply force in replacement with the concave slot 222 c, and the present invention is not limited thereto.
To sum up, in the connection port of the present invention, the connector is driven by the supporting component to be either hidden in or moved out of the containing cavity of the main body. When the user does not use the connection port, the connector on the supporting component can be contained in the main body in a proper angle for having a smaller in height. When the connection port is to be used, the connector is again moved out of the main body to allow the supporting component to tilt, so that the connector tilts in an angle suitable for plugging an external connector. Accordingly, with such design of the connection port capable of adjusting the connector angle, the thickness of the main body of the portable electronic device can be correspondingly reduced so as to meet the miniaturization trend of the portable electronic device.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention will be defined by the attached claims not by the above detailed descriptions.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a main body, having a containing cavity; and

a connection port, comprising:

a supporting component, slidably disposed at the main body along a sliding direction and sliding between an accommodating position and an operation position relative to the main body; and

a connector, disposed on the supporting component and having a plugging direction, wherein the connector is contained in the containing cavity and the plugging direction is perpendicular to the sliding direction when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position, and the connector is located out of the containing cavity and the supporting component has a tilting angle relative to the main body when the supporting component is located at the operation position.

2. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a height of the connector in the plugging direction is shorter than a length of the connector in the sliding direction when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position.

3. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the main body is placed on a surface, and when the supporting component is located at the operation position, the supporting component is rotated relative to the main body to lean against the surface so as to drive the connector to tilt from the surface.

4. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the containing cavity has an opening, the connector is moved in or out of the containing cavity through the opening, the supporting component has a covering plate, and the covering plate covers the opening when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position.

5. The portable electronic device according to claim 4, wherein when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position, the covering plate and the main body are co-planar.

6. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the connection port further comprises a connection wire, the main body has a circuit board therein, the connection wire is connected between the connector and the circuit board and flexed with the supporting component sliding and tilting.

7. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the main body is placed on a surface, when the supporting component is located at the operation position, the supporting component tilts and slides relative to the main body to lean against the surface so as to drive the connector to tilt from the surface.

8. A connection port, adapted to a portable electronic device comprising a main body having a containing cavity, the connection port comprising:

9. The connection port according to claim 8, wherein a height of the connector in the plugging direction is shorter than a length of the connector in the sliding direction when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position.

10. The connection port according to claim 8, wherein the main body is placed on a surface, and when the supporting component is located at the operation position, the supporting component tilts and slides relative to the main body to lean against the surface so as to drive the connector to tilt from the surface.

11. The connection port according to claim 8, wherein the main body is placed on a surface, and when the supporting component is located at the operation position, the supporting component is rotated relative to the main body to lean against the surface so as to drive the connector to tilt from the surface.

12. The connection port according to claim 8, wherein the containing cavity has an opening, the connector is moved in or out of the containing cavity through the opening, the supporting component has a covering plate, and the covering plate covers the opening when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position.

13. The connection port according to claim 12, wherein when the supporting component is located at the accommodating position, the covering plate and the main body are co-planar.

14. The connection port according to claim 8, further comprising a connection wire, wherein the main body has a circuit board therein, and the connection wire is connected between the connector and the circuit board and flexed with the supporting component sliding and tilting.

15. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the main body has a stopping structure located in the containing cavity, and the supporting component leans against the stopping structure to limit the tilting angle of the supporting component when the supporting component is located at the operation position.

16. The portable electronic device according to claim 15, wherein the stopping structure has at least one sliding slot, the supporting component has a sliding portion slidably disposed in the sliding slot, and when the supporting component is located at the operation position, the sliding portion leans against one end of the sliding portion so as to limit the tilting angle of the supporting component.