1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to electronic devices, and particularly to a receptacle protector of an electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
Hardware interfaces such as universal serial bus (USB) ports are often needed in electronic devices for connecting an electronic device to a portable storage device, a media player, or other electronic device to transfer data therebetween. A receptacle protector is needed for protecting the data interface when the data interface is not in use.
A conventional receptacle protector for the hardware interface is often a single piece that is detachable from the electronic device. When the hardware interface is not in use, the receptacle protector covers the hardware interface for protecting the hardware interface. When the hardware interface is in use, the receptacle protector is temporarily detached from the hardware interface. Because the receptacle protector is removed from the electronic device, the receptacle protector may be lost or misplaced resulting in the receptacle being unprotected when not in use.
What is needed, therefore, is an electronic device having a receptacle protector which is not susceptible to being lost or misplaced.
The present invention relates to an electronic device having a receptacle protector for a receptacle which connects with the electronic device and can not be easily removed from the electronic device. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device includes an enclosure, a receptacle and a receptacle protector. The enclosure defines an opening therein. The receptacle is disposed in the enclosure and faces the opening of the enclosure. The receptacle protector is used for protection of the receptacle. The receptacle protector includes a cap portion covering the receptacle and a tongue slidably connected with the enclosure.
Other advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the various present embodiments in detail.
Referring to
The enclosure 10 includes a base plate 60 and a top lid 40 covering the base plate 60. The opening 45 is defined in a sidewall 42 of the top lid 40. The base plate 60 has a brim 66 upwardly and integrally extending from a periphery of the base plate 60. A T-shaped fixing portion 64 is firmly attached to a top surface 68 of the base plate 60. Alternatively, the fixing portion 64 may be integrally formed with the base plate 60 from a single piece. The fixing portion 64 includes a neck 642 vertically extending from the top surface 68 of the base plate 60 and a head 644 horizontally and integrally extending from a top extreme end of the neck 642. A rectangular guiding portion 62 is integrally formed on the brim 66 of the base plate 60 and located just below the receptacle 20. A rectangular opening 620 is defined in a middle portion of the guiding portion 62, facing the fixing portion 64.
The receptacle 20 is firmly fixed to and electrically connects with the printed circuit board 50. The receptacle 20 includes a rectangular container 202 defining a hollow center, and a pin 204 received inside the hollow center. The mating plug of the other electronic product is inserted into the hollow center of the receptacle 20 and electrically connects with the pin 204 of the receptacle 20. In this embodiment, the receptacle 20 is a hardware interface such as a universal serial bus (USB) receptacle, a secure digital (SD) card port, or a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port.
Referring to
The receptacle protector 30 is made of resilient material such as plastic or soft rubber, and integrally injected from by inject molding method. Therefore, the tongue 34 deforms elastically when the flange 322 and the cap portion 32 of the receptacle protector 30 are disengaged from the receptacle 20 and the cap portion 32 is pressed downwards when inserting the mating plug into the receptacle 20.
Referring to
When the receptacle 20 is not in use, the cap portion 32 of the receptacle protector 30 is pushed to move toward the enclosure 10 and the tongue 34 slides toward the enclosure 10 along the guide slot 342 until the neck 642 of the fixing portion 64 of the enclosure 10 abuts against the second abutting surface 346 of the tongue 34. In this position, the cap portion 32 of the receptacle protector 30 is received in the opening 45 of the top lid 40 of the enclosure 10, with a right surface of the cap portion 32 being coplanar with a rightmost surface of the container 42 of the top lid 40 of the enclosure 10. Meanwhile, the wedges 325, 326, 328, 330 of the flange 322 and the cap portion 32 of the receptacle protector 30 abut against the container 202 of the receptacle 20 and the sidewalls surrounding the opening 45 of the enclosure 10, respectively. A distance dl between a bottommost surface surrounding the opening 620 and the top surface 68 of the base plate 60 is greater than a distance d2 between a bottommost surface of the head 644 and the top surface 68 of the base plate 60.
When the receptacle 20 is to be used, a pulling force is applied on the cap portion 32 of the receptacle protector 30 to pull the cap portion 32 and the flange 322, of the receptacle protector 30, out from the receptacle 20 and pull the tongue 34 of the receptacle protector 30 to slide along the guide slot 342 of the tongue 34 until the neck 642 of the fixing portion 64 abutting against the first abutting surface 344 of the tongue 34. Then, the cap portion 32 is pressed downwardly and the mating plug is inserted into the receptacle 20.
In the present electronic device 100, because the distance d1 between the bottommost surface surrounding the opening 620 and the top surface 68 of the base plate 60 is greater than the distance d2 between the bottommost surface of the head 644 and the top surface 68 of the base plate 60, when the receptacle protector 30 is pulled out of the opening 45 of the enclosure 10, a part of the tongue 34 exposed out of the enclosure 10 is slightly bent towards the top lid 40 of the enclosure 10. A top surface of the tongue 34 abuts against a topmost surface surrounding the opening 620 of the guiding portion 62, which prevents the receptacle protector 30 from sliding downwardly when the opening 45 of the enclosure 10 is turned to a side-to-down position.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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200710202572.8 | Nov 2007 | CN | national |