This application claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 201220504442.6, filed on Sep. 28, 2012.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clip assembly, more particularly to a clip assembly, and to an electronic device including the clip assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle is generally provided with two sun visors that are foldably disposed on top of a windshield and that are spaced apart in a left-right direction for blocking the dazzling sunlight when desired. When not in use, the sun visors can be folded to the vehicle roof. Since the sun visor is in the form of a plate and may support an object within a certain weight range, an electronic device, such as a Bluetooth hands-free headset, may be provided with a back clip to couple to the sun visor for easy operation by the user.
A conventional back clip is made of a folded metal strip or plate and is engaged to a corresponding locking groove formed in an outer casing of the electronic device. However, since some electronic devices may need to leave the vehicle with the user, the back clip may cause inconvenience during transportation if not removed, while removal or re-assembly of the back clip is rather difficult to perform. In addition, repeated reassembling and removing operations may cause deformation of the back clip, which may damage the structure of the locking groove in the outer casing of the electronic device.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a clip assembly and an electronic device including the same, where the clip assembly can be easily engaged to or disengaged from a housing of the electronic device.
According to one of an aspect of this invention, a clip assembly comprises a base, a locking mechanism and a clip mechanism.
The base has an inner surface, an outer surface, and a surrounding wall that extends from the outer surface to the inner surface and that defines a receiving hole. The receiving hole extends through the outer surface and is closed by the inner surface. The surrounding wall has two opposite through holes that communicate with the receiving hole and that are disposed at two opposite sides of the receiving hole.
The locking mechanism is disposed in proximity to the inner surface and the surrounding wall. The locking mechanism includes a pair of movable levers, a drive unit and a restoring unit. Each of the movable levers has an engaging portion that is movably inserted into the receiving hole through a corresponding one of the through holes of the surrounding wall, a pivot portion, an intermediate portion that interconnects the engaging portion and the pivot portion, and a driven portion that extends from one side of the pivot portion away from the intermediate portion. The movable levers are connected pivotally to each other in a scissor fashion at the pivot portions of the movable levers. The driven portion of one of the movable levers is opposite to and spaced-apart from the driven portion of another one of the movable levers. The drive unit has a button that is disposed between the driven portions of the movable levers. The button is movable between an un-pressed position and a pressed position.
The driven portions are pushed to move the engaging portions away from each other and out of the receiving hole via the through holes through a movement of the button from the un-pressed position to the pressed position. The restoring unit is connected to the intermediate portions of the movable levers so that the movable levers are restored to original positions thereof when the button is un-pressed.
The clip mechanism includes an elastic clip and a connection member. The elastic clip has first and second arms that are movable toward or away from each other. The connection member is disposed on the first arm and has a connection body that extends outwardly from the first arm in a direction away from the second arm. The connection body is receivable in the receiving hole and has two connecting holes that respectively engage the engaging portions when the connection body is received in the receiving hole. The engaging portions are disengageable from the connecting holes by pressing the button.
According to another aspect of this invention, an electronic device comprises a housing, a circuit module that is mounted in the housing, and a clip assembly that includes a base, a locking mechanism and a clip mechanism.
The base is formed integrally with the housing and has an inner surface, an outer surface, and a surrounding wall that extends from the outer surface to the inner surface and that defines a receiving hole. The receiving hole extends through the outer surface and is closed by the inner surface. The surrounding wall has two opposite through holes that communicate with the receiving hole and that are disposed at two opposite sides of the receiving hole.
The locking mechanism is disposed in proximity to the inner surface and the surrounding wall. The locking mechanism includes a pair of movable levers, a drive unit and a restoring unit. Each of the movable levers has an engaging portion that is movably inserted into the receiving hole through a corresponding one of the through holes of the surrounding wall, a pivot portion, an intermediate portion that interconnects the engaging portion and the pivot portion, and a driven portion that extends from one side of the pivot portion away from the intermediate portion. The movable levers are connected pivotally to each other in a scissor fashion at the pivot portions of the movable levers. The driven portion of one of the movable levers is opposite to and spaced-apart from the driven portion of another one of the movable levers. The drive unit has a button that is disposed between the driven portions of the movable levers. The button is movable between an un-pressed position and a pressed position. The driven portions are pushed to move the engaging portions away from each other and out of the receiving hole via the through holes through a movement of the button from the un-pressed position to the pressed position. The restoring unit is connected to the intermediate portions of the movable levers so that the movable levers are restored to original positions thereof when the button is un-pressed.
The clip mechanism includes an elastic clip and a connection member. The elastic clip has first and second arms that are movable toward or away from each other. The connection member is disposed on the first arm and has a connection body that extends outwardly from the first arm in a direction away from the second arm. The connection body is receivable in the receiving hole and has two connecting holes that respectively engage the engaging portions when the connection body is received in the receiving hole. The engaging portions are disengageable from the connecting holes by pressing the button.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Referring to
The clip assembly 2 includes a base 3, a locking mechanism 4 and a clip mechanism 5. The base 3 is formed integrally with the housing 1. In this embodiment, the housing 1 is composed of a first casing 11 and a second casing 12. The base 3 is substantially a part of the second casing 12. The base 3 has an inner surface 31, an outer surface 32, and a surrounding wall 33 that extends from the outer surface 32 to the inner surface 31 and that defines a receiving hole 34. The receiving hole 34 extends through the outer surface 32 and is closed by the inner surface 31. The surrounding wall 33 has two opposite through holes 331 that communicate with the receiving hole 34 and that are disposed at two opposite sides of the receiving hole 34. In this embodiment, the surrounding wall 33 has a circular outer surface, and the receiving hole 34 has a circular cross-section.
The locking mechanism 4 is disposed in proximity to the inner surface 31 and the surrounding wall 33. In this embodiment, the locking mechanism 4 includes a pair of movable levers 6, a drive unit 7 and a restoring unit 3. Each of the movable levers 6 has an engaging portion 61 that is movably inserted into the receiving hole 34 through a corresponding one of the through holes 331 of the surrounding wall 33, a pivot portion 63, an intermediate portion 62 that interconnects the engaging portion 61 and the pivot portion 63, and a driven portion 64 that extends from one side of the pivot portion 63 away from the intermediate portion 62. The movable levers 6 are connected pivotally to each other in a scissor fashion at the pivot portions 63 of the movable levers 6. The driven portion 64 of one of the movable levers 6 is opposite to and spaced-apart from the driven portion 64 of the other of the movable levers 6. Preferably, the intermediate portions 62 of the movable levers 6 are curved around the outer surface of the surrounding wall 33. Specifically, the pivot portion 63 of one of the movable levers 6 extends upwardly from the corresponding intermediate portion 62 in a ladderlike fashion and is stacked up on the pivot portion 63 of the other of the movable levers 6, such that the intermediate portions 62 and the engaging portions 61 of the movable levers 6 are substantially coplanar. Preferably, the pivot portions 63 of the movable levers 6 respectively have through holes 631 (only one can be seen) that are aligned with each other in a top-bottom direction. The base 3 has a positioning shaft 35 that extends through the through holes 631 of the movable levers 6. The driven portion 64 of each of the movable levers 6 has an inclined surface 643. The inclined surfaces 643 of the movable levers 6 face each other and are spaced apart from each other. Preferably, the driven portion 64 of each of the movable levers 6 further has an upright section 641 that transversely extends from the pivot portion 63 and a guiding projection 642 that outwardly projects from a distal end of the upright section 641. The guiding projection 642 has the inclined surface 643.
The drive unit 7 has a button 71 that is disposed between the driven portions 64 of the movable levers 6. The button 71 is movable between an un-pressed position (as shown in
Referring to
Referring to the
In practical use, the elastic clip 51 is capable of being clipped to a sun visor of a vehicle (not shown), which is foldable to abut against a roof of the vehicle for storage or to be away from the roof for shading from the sun. With the first and second arms 511, 512 of the elastic clip 51 being respectively disposed on two sides of the sun visor, (for example, when the sun visor is in the storage position, the first arm 511 may be proximate to the roof and the second arm 512 may be oriented to face a car seat), since two connection members 52 are provided respectively and symmetrically on the first and second arms 511, 512, when the sun visor is in the storage position, the user may use the connecting member 52 disposed on the second arm 512 for coupling the housing 1 of the electronic device 100, and when the sun visor is in use, the user may use the connecting member 52 disposed on the first arm 511 for coupling the housing 1 of the electronic device 100. Therefore, regardless of the position of the sun visor, the user is able to attach the electronic device 100 to the sun visor with convenience. In some embodiments, the clip mechanism 5 may include only one connecting member 52 that is disposed on either the first or second arms 511, 512.
To sum up, for the clip assembly 2 of the present invention, pressing the button 71 permits disengagement of the clip mechanism 5, such that the housing 1 of the electronic device 100 may be disassembled from the elastic clip 51. Moreover, when the connecting member 52 of the clip mechanism 5 is pressed into the receiving hole 34, the elastic clip 51 and the housing 1 are readily assembled together. Therefore, the clip assembly 2 of the present invention is not only simple to use, but can also be quickly assembled with or disassembled from the housing 1, thereby saving time and effort.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201220504442.6 | Sep 2012 | CN | national |