BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood and objectives other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the attached drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a palm rest after it has been folded for packaging of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a palm rest assembled with a keyboard in an extended condition for installation of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective bottom view of a palm rest before assembly with a keyboard of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective bottom view of a palm rest after assembly with a keyboard of the present invention; and
FIG. 5 is a partial magnified view of a palm rest according to FIG. 2 of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 2, which are cross-sectional views of a palm rest having been folded and received, and assembled with a keyboard in an extended condition. The palm rest 1 of the present invention can be assembled with a keyboard 3 that is shown partially in FIG. 2. A keyboard user's palm therefore would not be suspended midair thereby fulfilling the present invention's ergonomic aim.
Referring to FIG. 1, the palm rest 1 includes a shell 10. The shell 10 forms a concave portion 11 that is concaved from its bottom surface. At least one detachable assembly mechanism 2 could be received in the concave portion 11. The assembly mechanisms 2 are used to attach the palm rest 1 to the keyboard 3.
Each of the assembly mechanisms 2 include a base 21 and a joint arm 22 connecting with the base 21. The base 21 is formed in the concave portion 11 of the shell 10. One end of the joint arm 22 (hereinafter, designated as the first end) is pivotably mounted within the base 21. The joint arm 22 therefore is rotatable and is received in the shell 10, as shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively the joint arm 22 can be rotated to extend to the other end outside (hereinafter, designated as the second end) the shell 10 to attach to the keyboard 3, as shown in FIG. 2.
The assembly mechanism 2 is described in detail thereinafter. Reference is made to FIGS. 3 and 4, which are perspective bottom views of a palm rest before and after it has been attached to a keyboard of the present invention. The base 21 of the assembly mechanism 2 includes two symmetrical, parallel walls 211 that extend from the shell 10 of the palm rest 1 toward the concave portion 11.
The joint arm 22 includes a first end 221, a second end 222, and a curved portion 223 connecting the first end to the second end. The first end 221 is mounted pivotably between the two walls 211 of the base 21, so that the joint arm 22 can be rotated or turned over along a pivoting portion. A plurality of elastic buckling fingers 224 extend out from the second end 222. Each of the elastic buckling fingers 224 forms a buckling part 225, as shown in FIG. 3. The palm rest 1 can be therefore elastically clipped onto the keyboard 3.
To fix the joint arm 22 after it has been received in the palm rest 1, the base 21 forms at least one fixing bump 213 on one of the walls 211. The base 21 can also be formed with a pair of fixing bumps 213, which respectively protruding inwardly from the wall 211. The fixing bumps 213 position the joint arm 22 in the palm rest 1.
Reference is made to FIG. 4. The keyboard 3 has at least one combining member 32 at its bottom surface 31. The combining member 32 includes a pair of guiding rails 321 and a buckle depression 323 formed between the pair of guiding rails 321. Each of the guiding rails 321 is formed with a sliding slot 322 opposite to each other. The second end 222 of the joint arm 22 is disposed in the sliding slot 322 of the pair of guiding rails 321 in a slidable manner. Next, the elastic buckling fingers 224 of the second end 222 are clipped into the buckle depressions 323 of the keyboard 3 at the predetermined fixed positions, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5.
In an alternative embodiment, the combining members 32 can be separated from the keyboard 3. For example, the combining members 32 are adhered or screwed to the bottom surface of the keyboard 3. Therefore, the present invention can be utilized to all keyboards which lack palm rests.
Reference is made to FIG. 5. In this embodiment, the buckle depression 323 of the combining member 32 is formed at the bottom surface of the keyboard 3, and is shaped like a “W” when viewed side on. In other words, the buckle depression 323 has two adjacent valleys 324, 325. The buckling part 225 of the elastic buckling finger 224 will slide into the valley 324 at an outer side when being assembled, and then slide into the valley 325 at an inner side when it is pushed. Such a structure not only ensures that the palm rest is attached to the predetermined position, but also provides a larger and therefore more convenient detaching space when detaching the palm rest 1 from the keyboard 3.
The present invention utilizes the assembly mechanism 2 which can be rotated along its pivoting portion, so that it can be folded and received in the concave portion 11 of the palm rest 1 for packaging convenience, as shown in FIG. 1. In other words, it reduces cavities in the packaged product and less space is wasted. The total space of the palm rest is not enlarged, so that transportation costs are not increased. Moreover, the assembly mechanism 2 extends outside the concave portion 11 of the palm rest 1 along its pivoting portion, as shown in FIG. 2. The second end 222 of the assembly mechanism 2 can slide into the pair of guiding rails 321, and the elastic buckling finger 224 of the second end 222 can be clipped in the buckle depression 323 of the keyboard 3 at the end point of the sliding stroke, such as can be seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5.
In the present invention, if the user wants to detach the palm rest 1 (not shown), the elastic buckling finger 224 can be smoothly released from the buckle depression 323, and the second end 222 can be released from the guiding rails 321. The palm rest 1 is thereby detached.
In summation of the description above, the palm rest of the invention includes the following advantages:
The assembly mechanism 2 of the palm rest 1 adopts a detachable structure, which includes the base 21 and the joint arm 22 combined in a pivotal way. The assembly mechanism 2 can therefore be retracted into the concave portion 11 when packaged, and can be extended outside the concave portion 11 when assembled with the combining member 32 of the keyboard 3 when being attached to the keyboard. The packaged product has few cavities thereby reducing the total size of the palm rest and minimizing transportation costs.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Patent Application
20070280771
