1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retreating apparatus; more particularly, it relates to a retreating apparatus capable of successfully detaching an external device from an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the arrival of the information age, the usage of computers is increasing, and the size of each type of data file applied in computers is increasing in size. With regard to application software, photo image files or video images, a single file or a file folder may occupy tens or hundreds of megabytes (MB), or even more than 1 gigabyte (GB), of the storage space. Therefore, the development of large-capacity and portable external storage devices (such as hard disk drives or optical disk burners) is advancing quickly to meet user requirements.
An external storage device needs to be electrically connected with a computer or other operating device (such as a playback device) via a connecting interface before it executes a data access function. Conventionally, most users need to directly and manually plug/unplug the external storage device to attach/detach the external storage device to/from an electronic device, but this kind of manipulation is very inconvenient to the users. Therefore, some current electronic are now combined with retreating apparatuses for assisting in detaching such kinds of storage devices. The user needs only to operate the retreating apparatus to generate a linking action via an operating element so as to drive the external storage device to be automatically detached from the electronic device.
However, if the connection between the external storage device and the computer (or the like) is too tight, it is possible that the linking operation may not be successfully achieved due to imprecise assembly among each element of the retreating apparatus, or the external storage device may not be successfully detached from the electronic device due to insufficient force provided by the retreating apparatus. Therefore, the manufacturing process of the assembly of each element should be monitored carefully so as to keep the stability of the detaching function for the retreating apparatus; however, additional manufacturing costs may be incurred by doing so.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an electronic device and retreating apparatus thereof to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a retreating apparatus capable of successfully detaching an external device from the electronic device.
To achieve the abovementioned object, a retreating apparatus of an electronic device of the present invention comprises at least one moving element, at least one first elastic element, an operating element, and at least one linking element. Each moving element is combined with the main body of the electronic device and can rotate relative to the main body, and each moving element comprises an engaging part and an opening part. One end of each first elastic element is connected to the main body, and the other end of each first elastic element is connected to the moving element. The operating element is capable of being movably combined with the main body, wherein the operating element comprises at least one protrusion part, and each protrusion part corresponds to each opening part. Each linking element is capable of being movably combined with the operating element, and each linking element comprises an engaging element, whereof each engaging element corresponds to each engaging part. When the electronic device is connected with the external device via a connecting interface, a linking action among each assembly element of the retreating apparatus can be generated by means of operating the retreating apparatus of the present invention so as to provide different working types to rotate each moving element, and the external device can thereby be successfully detached from the electronic device.
The electronic device of the present invention comprises a main body, a connecting interface, and the aforementioned retreating apparatus. The connecting interface is used for correspondingly connecting to the external device. The retreating apparatus is disposed in the main body. By means of operating the retreating apparatus, the external device can be successfully detached from the electronic device of the present invention.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings, which disclose several embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the drawings are to be used for purposes of illustration only, and not as a definition of the invention.
In the drawings, wherein similar reference numerals denote similar elements throughout the several views:
a) illustrates a schematic drawing showing the retreating apparatus of the present invention when the external device has been combined with the electronic device.
b) illustrates a schematic drawing showing the operation of the retreating apparatus of the present invention during detachment of the external device from the electronic device.
c) illustrates a schematic drawing showing the operation of the retreating apparatus of the present invention after detachment of the external device from the electronic device.
a) and 4(b) illustrate schematic drawings showing operational states of the retreating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
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The moving element 10 comprises an engaging part 11, an opening part 12, and a pushing part 13. The moving element 10 is combined with a main body 110 of the electronic device 100. In this embodiment, the moving element 10 can be combined with the main body 110 via a fixing element 50. The fixing element 50 can be treated as an axis for the moving element 10 to rotate relative to the main body 110, such that the moving element 10 can drive the moving part 13 to rotate together with it upon its rotation.
The first elastic element 20 is disposed underneath the moving element 10. One end of the first elastic element 20 is connected to the main body 110, and the other end of the first elastic element 20 is connected to its corresponding moving element 10, so as to provide the moving element 10 with an elastic force required for rotation.
The operating element 30 comprises a protrusion part 31, a groove 32, and a button part 33. The position of the protrusion part 31 corresponds to that of the opening part 12 of the moving element 10. The operating element 30 is capable of being movably combined with the main body 110. In this embodiment, the retreating apparatus 1 of the present invention further comprises a second elastic element 60. One end of the second elastic element 60 is connected to the main body 110, and the other end of the second elastic element 60 is connected to the operating element 30. Therefore, the second elastic element 60 can provide the operating element 30 with a restoring function after it has been moved. Further, a position-limiting structure 111 can be correspondingly disposed in the main body 110 of the electronic device 100 for limiting the movement of the operating element 30 to the same axial direction.
The linking element 40 comprises an engaging element 41 and a sliding element 42. The engaging element 41 corresponds to the engaging part 11 of the moving element 10. When the engaging element 41 is engaged with the engaging part 11, an engaged state is accordingly formed to limit the rotation of the operating element 10. The linking element 40 is capable of being movably combined with the operating element 30. In this embodiment, the sliding element 42 of the linking element 40 is correspondingly inserted into the groove 32 of the operating element 30. As a result, when the operating element 30 moves, the sliding element 42 will move along the groove 32, and therefore the linking element 40 can be driven to move as well.
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When the external device 200 is going to be recombined with the electronic device 100, the external device 200 will gradually push against the pushing part 13 during the combination process, so as to drive the moving element 10 to rotate. As a result, the retreating apparatus 1 of the present invention will move according to the sequence of
According to the design of the retreating apparatus 1 of the present invention, a 2-stage detaching function can be achieved. First, the operating element 30 is pushed to move from the initial position A to the first position B, so as to utilize the elastic force generated by the first elastic element 20 to automatically drive the pushing element 13 to push the external device 200. If the external device 200 is not successfully retreated, the operating element 30 is further pushed to move from the first position B to the second position C, so as to utilize the operating element 30 to directly drive the pushing element 13 to push the external device according to an external force. Therefore, it is certain that the external device 200 can always be successfully detached from the electronic device 100.
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Accordingly, the electronic device 100 of the present invention can utilize the retreating apparatus 1 or 1a to successfully detach the external device 200 connected with the connecting interface 112 of the electronic device 100, so as to improve usage convenience of the electronic device 100 of the present invention.
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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098119770 | Jun 2009 | TW | national |