This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 101219570, filed on Oct. 9, 2012. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to an electronic device, and more particularly, to an electronic device with a slit on the outward appearance thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of electronic technology, notebook computers, tablet computers, smart phones and other various electronic products have become more popular in the mass market to be indispensable portable tools of many users.
Many electronic devices are equipped with keys for user to input. Because the human body carries more or less static electricity, so when a user manipulates keys, static electricity on the body of the user may be delivered via a finger and through the slits between the keys and electronic device to the circuit board inside the electronic device, which results in the phenomenon of electrostatic discharge (ESD) and leads to short circuit or damage. In some conventional designs, plastic spacers, metal mesh or metal foil or other members are disposed at the keys or the electronic device casing in order to prevent electric charges from entering the circuit board or guide electric charges to ground for releasing. However, such design will increase the design and manufacturing costs and the complexity of the structure, and will affect the touch feeling of the keys.
Accordingly, the invention is directed to an electronic device, which achieves the effect of electrostatic protection by a simpler design.
The invention provides an electronic device, which includes a casing, a circuit board, an electronic component and a plurality of conductive elements. The circuit board is disposed in the casing. The electronic component is disposed on the circuit board and has a shielding surface and an electronic components body, in which the shielding surface and the casing together form a common casing surface, and there is a slit between the shielding surface and the casing. The conductive elements are disposed on the circuit board and grounded, in which the center position of each of the conductive elements and the edge of the shielding surface overlap each other, and the distance between the edge of the shielding surface and the conductive element is less than the distance between the edge of the shielding surface and the electronic component main body to evacuate static electricity around the electronic component.
In an embodiment of the invention, the electronic component is a key or a light emitting diode (LED) light sensor.
In an embodiment of the invention, the conductive element is a solder ball.
In an embodiment of the invention, the casing has an inner surface, the inner surface faces the circuit board and the shielding surface extends to a position between the inner surface and the circuit board.
In an embodiment of the invention, the length of the orthogonal projection of the shielding surface on the inner surface is greater than 2 mm.
In an embodiment of the invention, the conductive elements surround the electronic component main body.
Based on the description above, in the invention, the conductive elements are disposed on the circuit board, the center position of each of the conductive elements and the edge of the shielding surface overlap each other, and the distance between the edge of the shielding surface and the conductive element is less than the distance between the edge of the shielding surface and the electronic component main body. In this way, when the finger of a user touches or approaches the slit between the shielding surface and the casing, and static electricity carried on the body of the user enters the electronic device via the slit, the static electricity is guided by the conductive elements adjacent to the slits to the ground for releasing, which can avoid the ESD phenomena to cause the circuit board short circuit or damage. Since the conductive elements are disposed on the circuit board, not at the casing or the keys of the electronic device, the above-mentioned design would not affect the touch feeling of manipulating the keys and save the design and manufacturing costs.
In order to make the features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the present invention is further described in detail in the following with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings.
The electronic device 100 in the embodiment is, for example, an electronic product with keys, for example, notebook computer, and the electronic component 140 is, for example, the keys of the notebook computer. In other embodiments, the electronic component 140 can be other types of components, for example, LED light sensor disposed at the video lens of a notebook computer, which the invention is not limited to.
With the above-mentioned layout, the center position C of each of the conductive elements 130 and the edge E of the shielding surface 140a of the electronic component 140 overlap each other, and the distance between the edge E of the shielding surface 140a and the conductive element 130 is less than the distance between the edge E of the shielding surface 140a and the electronic component main body 140b. In this way, when the finger of a user touches or approaches the slit 110a between the shielding surface 140a and the casing 110 (for example, as pressing the keys), and static electricity carried on the body of the user enters the electronic device 100 via the slits 110a, the static electricity is guided by the conductive elements 130 close to the slits 110a to the ground for releasing, which can avoid the ESD phenomena to cause the circuit board 120 short circuit or damage. Since the conductive elements 130 are disposed on the circuit board 120, not at the casing 110 or the keys (the electronic component 140), the above-mentioned design would not affect the touch feeling of manipulating the keys and not increase the complexity of the structure, and will save the design and manufacturing costs.
In more details, in the embodiment, the casing 110 has an inner surface 112b, the inner surface 112b faces the circuit board 120, and the shielding surface 140a of the electronic device 100 extends to a position between the inner surface 112b and the circuit board 120. When the finger of the user touches or approaches the slit 110a between the shielding surface 140a and the casing 110, static electricity carried on the body of the user can arrive at the edge E of the shielding surface 140a via the slit 110a between the shielding surface 140a and the inner surface 112b and enter the electronic device 100. As shown by
In the embodiment, the length L of the orthogonal projection of the shielding surface 140a of the electronic component 140 on the inner surface 112b of the casing 110 is, for example, greater than 2 mm, so that static electricity entering the electronic device 100 via the slits 110a is more far away from the electronic component main body 140b and closer to the conductive elements 130. In other embodiments, the orthogonal projection of the shielding surface 140a on the inner surface 112b of the casing 110 can have other appropriate lengths, which the invention is not limited to. In addition, in the embodiment, there is an interval G between the conductive elements 130 and the electronic component 140 to allow the keycaps 140c of the electronic component 140 has a downward space as pressing down the electronic component 140 and facilitate operating the electronic component 140 by the user. In other embodiments, the height of the conductive elements 130 can be changed according to the design requirement so that an appropriate interval is kept between the conductive elements 130 and the electronic component 140.
In summary, in the invention, the conductive elements are disposed on the circuit board, the center position of each of the conductive elements and the edge of the shielding surface overlap each other, and the distance between the edge of the shielding surface and the conductive element is less than the distance between the edge of the shielding surface and the electronic component main body. In this way, when the finger of a user touches or approaches the slit between the shielding surface and the casing, and static electricity carried on the body of the user enters the electronic device via the slit, the static electricity is guided by the conductive elements adjacent to the slits to the ground for releasing, which can avoid the ESD phenomena to cause the circuit board short circuit or damage. Since the conductive elements are disposed on the circuit board, not at the casing or the keys of the electronic device, the above-mentioned design would not affect the touch feeling of manipulating the keys, not increase the structure complexity of the casing or keys, and save the design and manufacturing costs.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the descriptions above are several preferred embodiments of the invention only, which does not limit the implementing range of the invention. Various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. The claim scope of the invention is defined by the claims hereinafter.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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101219570 | Oct 2012 | TW | national |