Patent Application
20150234432
1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure generally relates to an elastic body and an electronic device, and more particularly to an elastic body having a bottom plate which includes an opening and an electronic device utilizing the elastic body having the bottom plate which includes the opening.
2. Description of Related Art
As technology advances and develops, various kinds of electronic devices, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, and electronic books (eBooks), etc., have been extensively used. These electronic devices not only make people's life more convenient, but also have become an indispensable part to people's life.
In the foregoing electronic device, an elastic body is installed between a circuit board and an electronic component, so as to electrically conduct the circuit board and the electronic component. However, in response to the trend of thinning design of the electronic device, how to thinning the structure of the elastic body while not compromising the reliability has become an issue that the electronic device manufacturers are eager to resolve.
The disclosure provides an elastic body which has a thin structure.
The disclosure provides an electronic device which utilizes the aforementioned elastic body and fulfills the thinning design requirements.
The elastic body according to the disclosure includes a bottom plate, a position limiting portion, and an elastic part. The bottom plate has an opening. The position limiting portion is connected to the bottom plate and extends toward the opening. The elastic part is connected to the bottom plate and includes a contacting portion, wherein the contacting portion is installed corresponding to the opening, and a distance between the contacting portion and the bottom plate is kept by the position limiting portion.
The electronic device according to the disclosure includes a casing, an electronic component, and a conductive base. The electronic component and the conductive base are installed in the casing. The conductive base includes a base body and an elastic body. The base body has a first opening. The elastic body includes a bottom plate and an elastic part. The bottom plate is installed on the base body and has a second opening. The first opening is communicated with the second opening. The elastic part is connected to the bottom plate and has a contacting portion. The contacting portion is installed corresponding to the second opening, and the contacting portion contacts the electronic component.
Accordingly, in the elastic body and the electronic device according to the disclosure, the bottom plate and the body base have openings that are communicated with each other. When an external force is applied to the contacting portion of the elastic body, the elastic part can be accommodated in the two openings Therefore, the overall thickness of the conductive base can be reduced in order to fulfill the thinning design requirement of the electronic device.
To make the above features and advantages of the disclosure more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows.
Moreover, the elastic body 120 in the present embodiment further includes a position limiting portion 126 and a side wall 128. The side wall 128 is adjacent to a side edge of the bottom plate 122. The position limiting portion 126 is connected to a top edge of the side wall 128 and extends toward the second opening 122a. The position limiting portion 126 connects to the bottom plate 122 through the side wall 128. When the force F is removed from the contacting portion 124a of the elastic part 124, the elastic part 124 would bend with respect to the bottom plate and moves further away from the first opening 112. The position limiting portion 126 can control the rebound of the elastic part 124. In other words, by installing the position limiting portion 126, a distance D (indicated in
In addition, the elastic part 124 further includes a restriction part 124b, which is installed corresponding to the position limiting portion 126. The restriction part 124b can be a plate structure that is extended and bent from the elastic part 124. The restriction part 124b is installed around the contacting portion 124a. The position limiting portion 126 clamps the restriction part 124b, so as to limit the elastic part 124 within the range of the distance D. Furthermore, when the force F is removed from the contacting portion 124a, the elastic part 124 would bend with respect to the bottom plate 122. Since the elastic part 124 is elastically deformed to cause the elastic part 124 returns to the original position, the restriction part 124b abuts the position limiting portion 126, thereby limiting the rebound degree of the elastic part 124.
The contacting portion 124a of the elastic part 124 is, for example, a hemispherical shape which protrudes from a top surface 124c of the elastic part 124 in the direction away from the second opening 122a. The hemispherical contacting portion 124a has an arc surface 124d. Regardless of the direction in which the electronic component 14 of the electronic device 10 contacts the elastic body 120, the arc surface 124d is able to provide stable contacts, thereby to ensure the electronic component 14 of the electronic device 10 is electrically connected to the base body 110.
In addition, the elastic body 120 of the present embodiment can be formed integrally through suitable forming steps. The formation step is, for example, a combination of a punching process and a bending process. Furthermore, first of all, the bottom plate 122 has the second opening 122a and the elastic part 124 has the contacting part 124a by means of implementing the punching process. Subsequently, by means of implementing the bending process, the elastic part 124 would bend at an edge of the bottom plate 122 and extends above the second opening 122a to form a plate shape, thereby allowing the elastic part 124 to elastically deform when force is applied. Moreover, considering the convenience for processing, the material of the elastic body 120 can be an elastic material, and preferably metal.
Accordingly, in the elastic body and the electronic device according to the disclosure, the base body and the elastic body each respectively has the first opening and the second opening. When the elastic body is being pressed, the first opening and the second opening can commonly accommodate part of the elastic part, so the overall thickness of the elastic body can be reduced. As a result, the thickness of the conductive base which utilizes the elastic body can be reduced as well, thereby fulfilling the thinning requirement of the electronic device. Moreover, when the elastic body includes the position limiting portion, the permanent deformation due to excessive deformation can be avoided. Therefore, the elastic body can be maintained at an excellent condition, thereby allowing the electronic device equipped with the conductive base to yield a better reliability. Furthermore, when the contacting portion of the elastic part is hemispherical, a stable electrical connection between the electronic component of the electronic device and the base body can be provided.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
