Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6386908
-
Patent Number
6,386,908
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, September 16, 199826 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 14, 200222 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
- Frommer Lawrence & Haug, LLP.
- Frommer; William S.
- Ryan; Matthew K.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 439 528
- 439 501
- 439 357
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
An electronic device including a body and a connecting line. The connecting line is provided with an electrical connector for electrical connection and extends out from the body. The body has a recess for removably retaining therein the connector of the connecting line by inserting the connector into the recess. The electronic device is easy to carry around.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of an electronic device comprising a body and a connecting line, with the connecting line being provided with an electrical connector for electrical connection to another electronic device, such as a computer, and extending out from the body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, portable electronic devices, such as portable computers and portable information terminals, have been available.
Portable computers, taken as an example of electronic devices, are becoming thinner and smaller. One type of such portable computers comprises a body and a display portion provided with respect to the body.
Since such portable computers are becoming thinner, drives for driving an information recording medium, such as a floppy disk, cannot be built in the portable computers. Therefore, floppy disk drives or the like are formed outside the portable computers in the form of accessories which are connected to an external terminal of the body of the portable computers.
However, when such externally connecting electronic devices, such as floppy disk drives, having a body and a connecting line, are carried around, the connecting line and the connector of the connecting line extend freely out from body. Therefore, such externally connecting electronic devices are not easy to carry around and are troublesome to handle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, in order to overcome the above-described problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device which is easy to carry around.
To this end, according to the present invention, there is provided an electronic device comprising a body and a connecting line, with the connecting line being provided with an electrical connector for electrical connection and extending out from the body. The body has a recess for removably retaining therein the connector of the connecting line by inserting the connector into the recess.
Therefore, according to the present invention, the body
2
has a recess for removably retaining therein the connector of the connecting line by inserting the connector into the recess.
Inserting the connector of the connecting line into the recess in the body, so that the connector does not extend freely from the body, makes the electronic device easier to carry around.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a portable computer provided with an externally connecting electronic device in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2
is a perspective view of the externally connecting electronic of the computer of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 3
is a plan view of the externally connecting electronic device of FIG.
2
.
FIG. 4
is a perspective view of another embodiment of the externally connecting electronic device in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 5
is a sectional view of part of the externally connecting electronic device of FIG.
4
.
FIG. 6
is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the externally connecting electronic device in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 7
is a sectional view of part of the externally connecting electronic device of FIG.
6
.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A description will now be given of preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.
Since the embodiments to be described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention, various specific technological forms are described below. However, unless otherwise specified, these technological forms in no way limit the scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1
shows an example of an electronic device with hinges, which is provided with an externally connecting electronic device in an embodiment of the present invention. In
FIG. 1
, the portable computer
100
serves as the electronic device with hinges. The portable computer
100
comprises, for example, a body
2
, a display portion
3
, a keyboard
4
, hinges
1
A and
1
B surrounded by areas A and B, respectively, and a battery pack BA.
The body
2
has the aforementioned keyboard
4
, a pointing device
5
, etc. A liquid crystal display (LCD) may be used for the display portion
3
. Using the hinges
1
A and
1
B, the display portion
3
is mounted to the body
2
so that it can be opened and closed in the direction of double-headed arrow R. Although not illustrated in
FIG. 1
, a mouse, or the like, serving as external pointing device, can be externally secured to the body
2
.
Since the body
2
of
FIG. 1
is thin and has a very small area, as a result of the computer
100
being made thinner, drives, for driving various recording media, cannot be built therein.
To overcome this problem, an externally connecting electronic device
200
is provided such that its connector
201
can be connected to a connector
2
C of the body
2
.
The externally connecting electronic device
200
has the structure shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
. The externally connecting electronic device
200
drives, for example, a floppy disk (or a disk-shaped information recording medium) D. The electronic device
200
allows information to be recorded onto the information recording medium D, such as a floppy disk, and information recorded on the information recording medium D to be reproduced. An opening
203
, for inserting therein the information recording medium D, is formed in the front side of a body
202
of the electronic device
200
.
The electronic device
200
has a body
202
and a connecting line
204
. The connecting line
204
is provided with an electrical connector
205
and a noise eliminating section
206
. The base
207
of the connecting line
204
is connected to a predetermined circuit board side in the body
202
.
The body
202
is made of, for example, plastic or metal, and has a top face
210
, a bottom face
211
, side faces
212
and
213
, a front face
214
, and a back face
215
. Three recesses
220
,
221
, and
223
are formed in the side face
213
. The recess
220
is provided for accommodating therein the peripheral portion of the base
207
of the connecting line
204
. The recess
221
is provided for resiliently and removably accommodating the noise eliminating section
206
.
The recess
223
is provided for removably retaining at least part of the connector
205
by fitting it therein.
The recess
223
has disposed therein resilient members
230
for retaining the connector
205
by fitting it therebetween. The resilient members
230
are affixed to inside surfaces
223
A and
223
B of the recess
223
with, for example, an adhesive. The resilient members
230
are each made of a resilient material with a large coefficient of friction, such as plastic or rubber.
The connecting line
204
is made removably retainable at the side face
213
of the body
202
to make the externally connecting electronic device
200
easier to carry around. When the externally connecting electronic device
200
, along with the computer
100
of
FIG. 1
, is carried around in, for example, a bag, and the connector
205
of the connecting line
204
is allowed to freely extend from the body
202
, the electronic device
200
cannot be conveniently carried around. This problem becomes serious when a plurality of external connecting electronic devices are to be carried around.
When, as shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, the base
207
, the noise eliminating section
206
, and the connector
205
of the connecting line
204
are firmly fitted to and retained in their respective recesses
220
,
221
, and
223
of the body
202
, the body
202
and the connecting line
204
are integrally connected together, thereby allowing anyone to easily carry around the external connecting electronic device
200
.
In this case, even when the connector
205
is subjected to vibration, it does not get easily dislodged from the recess
223
, since it is fitted and retained between the resilient members
230
. When the externally connecting electronic device
200
, with this structure, is carried around, the connecting line
204
, the connector
205
, and the noise eliminating section
206
can be properly handled.
A description will now be given of another embodiment of the externally connecting electronic device in accordance with the present invention with reference to
FIGS. 4 and 5
. The externally connecting electronic device
300
has a body
302
and a connecting line
304
. An opening
303
, for inserting therein an information recording medium D, is provided in a front face
314
of the body
302
. The body
302
has a top face
310
, a bottom face
311
, side faces
312
and
313
, a front face
314
, and a back face
315
. A recess
323
is formed in the side face
313
. A connector
305
of the connecting line
304
can be removably fitted to the recess
323
. Resilient members
330
are affixed in the recess
323
with, for example, an adhesive. The depth W of the recess
323
is smaller than the width W
1
of the connector
305
.
The connector
305
of the connecting line
304
can be removably retained between the resilient members
330
by fitting it therebetween, as shown in FIG.
5
.
In the electronic devices
200
and
300
of
FIGS. 2
to
5
, the depth W
0
of the recess
223
and the depth W of the recess
323
of
FIG. 4
are smaller than the width W
2
of the connector
205
and the width W
1
of the connector
305
, respectively. This allows part of the connectors
205
and
305
to be fitted into and retained in the recesses
223
and
323
, respectively.
The depths of the recesses
223
and
323
and the widths of the connectors
205
and
305
may be set to allow the connectors
205
and
305
to be completely fitted and retained in their corresponding recesses.
A description will now be given of still another embodiment of the externally connecting electronic device in accordance with the present invention with reference to
FIGS. 6 and 7
. The external connecting electronic device
400
of
FIGS. 6 and 7
is a port expansion device with a plurality of ports (or connecting terminals). The electronic device
400
has a body
402
and a connecting line
404
. The body
402
has a top face
410
, a bottom face
411
, side faces
412
and
413
, a front face
414
, and a back face
415
. A plurality of connectors
416
,
417
,
418
, and
419
, called ports, are formed at the front face
414
. Recesses
420
and
421
are formed in the back face. The recess
420
is provided for securing thereat part of the noise eliminating section
430
of the connecting line
404
by resiliently fitting it therein. The recess
421
is provided for retaining thereat part of the connector
431
of the connecting line
404
by resiliently fitting it therein. In order to resiliently retain the connector
431
, resilient members
440
are affixed to the inside of the recess
421
, using, for example, an adhesive. The resilient members
440
resiliently retain the connector
431
by retaining sides
431
A of the connector
431
. The resilient members
440
may each be made of, for example, resiliently deformable plastic or rubber.
FIG. 7
shows the connector
431
being retained by the resilient members
440
.
When the connector
431
and the noise eliminating section
430
are fitted into and retained in their respective recesses
421
and
420
, with the connector
431
being retained between the resilient members
440
, the body
402
and the connecting line
404
are integrally connected together, thereby allowing the electronic device
400
to be conveniently carried around.
It is to be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.
Although in the above-described embodiments a drive, for driving an information recording medium, and a port expansion device were used as externally connecting electronic devices, other types of externally connecting electronic devices may also be used. They include other types of drives for driving an information recording medium, an externally connecting converter, a display, a speaker, an antenna, an external keyboard, and an information terminal.
As can be understood from the foregoing description, according to the present invention, the electronic device is easy to carry around.
Claims
- 1. An electronic device, comprising:a body having a plurality of side faces; and a connecting line including a base connected to a circuit board in the body and extending outwardly therefrom an electrical connector for electrical connection; and an electronic noise eliminating section, wherein said body has at least three non-contiguous of recesses all formed along the same side face for removably and separably accomodating and retaining therein respectively said base, said electrical connector and said noise eliminating section of said connecting line by fitting said base, said electrical connector and said noise eliminating section of said connecting line into a respective one of said at least three recesses; and a resilient member formed of a material having a large coefficient of friction and disposed in one of said plurality of recesses for resiliently retaining said electrical connector.
- 2. An electronic device according to claim 1, wherein at least part of said connector is inserted into said respective recess.
- 3. An electronic device according to claim 1, wherein said body is a drive for recording information onto an information recording medium and reproducing information recorded on the information recording medium.
- 4. An electronic device according to claim 1, wherein said body is an expansion device with a plurality of electrically connecting terminals.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
9-255501 |
Sep 1997 |
JP |
|
US Referenced Citations (7)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
9218931 |
Sep 1997 |
JP |