Abstract:
A case structure for an electronic device of the present invention at least includes a main body and at least one side piece detachably mounted to at least one side of the main body such that different sizes of case structures could be manufactured only by changing the size of the side piece while keeping the main body unchanged, thereby reducing molding cost for developing new electronic devices, saving a large amount of time needed to design, test and modify cases as well as saving human resources and reducing the manufacturing cost.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to case structures for electronic devices, and more particularly to a case structure for receiving main components of an electronic device. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Currently, notebook computers on the market are usually provided with a 14.1- or 15-inch display. However, with the trend towards both portability and better visual effect, notebook computer manufacturers are developing diversified types of notebook computers to meet different demands of people. For a newly developed type of notebook computer, a new case structure usually needs to be designed and a new molding process is needed, which results in high manufacturing cost and a time-consuming manufacturing process. 
   Accordingly, there is a need to develop a case structure for an electronic device which only needs to be partially changed to meet a new design. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   According to the above defects, a primary objective of the present invention is to provide a case structure for an electronic device which only needs to be partially changed to meet a new design, thereby decreasing the manufacturing cost and shortening the manufacturing time. 
   To achieve the above and other objectives, a case structure for an electronic device of the present invention at least comprises a main body and at least one side piece detachably mounted to at least one side of the main body such that different sizes of case structures for an electronic device could be manufactured only by changing the size of the side piece while keeping the main body unchanged. 
   The main body comprises an upper case and a lower case. Preferably, the cross section of the main body is trapezoid-shaped. 
   A recess is formed at one side of the upper case to receive the side piece. The main body has a first mounting portion formed at a predefined position on the recess and the side piece has a second mounting portion formed corresponding to the first mounting portion, the side piece being stably mounted to the main body by engaging the first mounting portion with the second mounting portion. 
   The first mounting portion includes at least one perforation and slot and the corresponding second mounting portion includes at least one tenon and hook. Alternatively, the first mounting portion could include at least one tenon and hook and the second mounting portion could include at least one perforation and slot. 
   In addition, the first mounting portion comprises at least one rail groove disposed on the main body and extending along the longitudinal direction of the recess in order to engage at least one protruding rail disposed on the side piece corresponding to the position of the rail groove. Alternatively, the first mounting portion comprises at least one protruding rail to engage at least one rail groove formed on the side piece corresponding to the position of the protruding rail. 
   Except the side that functions as a rotation axis, the side piece could be mounted to any other side of the main body and the side piece could be made of Al alloy, metal or plastic material. 
   Therefore, the present invention could provide different sizes of electronic devices by changing the size of the side piece while keeping the main body unchanged, thereby reducing molding cost for developing new electronic devices, saving a large amount of time needed to design, test and modify cases as well as saving human resources and reducing the manufacturing cost. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a partial perspective view of a case structure for a notebook computer according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a partial cross-sectional view of the case structure of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a partial cross-sectional view of the case structure having a smaller side piece; 
       FIG. 4  is a partial cross-sectional view of a case structure having a larger side piece; 
       FIG. 5  is a partial cross-sectional view of a case structure for a notebook computer according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 6  is a partial cross-sectional view of a case structure for a notebook computer according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Hereunder, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
   In the following embodiments, the electronic device of the present invention refers to a notebook computer, but it is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will understand that the electronic device could also be a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a game player, a palmtop computer or a mobile phone. 
   Please referring to  FIG. 1 , which shows a partial three-dimensional perspective diagram of a case structure  1  of the present invention. The case structure  1  according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a main body  10  provided with an upper case  101  and a lower case  102  and a side piece  20  provided with a plurality of tenons  201  and hooks  202 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the upper case  101  is longer than the lower case  102 , thereby the cross section of the main body  10  having trapezoid shape. A recess  103  is formed at one side of the upper case  101 , which is provided with a plurality of perforations  104  and slots  105  respectively corresponding to the tenons  201  and the hooks  202 . For joining the side piece  20  with the main body  10 , the tenons  201  are inserted into the perforations  104  and the hooks  202  are engaged with the slots  105 . Accordingly, the side piece  20  is stably fixed to one side of the main body  10  and the upper surface of the side piece  20  is flush with the surface of the upper case  101 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . It should be noted that except to the side that functions as a rotation axis, the side piece  20  could be mounted to any other sides of the main body  10  or mounted to at least two sides thereof such that the size of the case structure of the present invention could be varied either in one direction or in bi-direction. 
   Furthermore, the side piece  20  could be made of Al alloy, metal or plastic material which could be the same as or different from the material composing the main body  10 , thereby increasing appearance variability of the case structure of the present invention. 
   When one wishes to change the size of the case structure, only the size of the side piece needs to be changed while the main body can be kept unchanged. As a result, different sizes of the side piece result in different sizes of case structures, thereby eliminating the need for molding and manufacturing of different sized case structures. In order to assist understanding of the present invention, please compare  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The only difference between these two figures is that the side piece  20  in  FIG. 4  is wider than the side piece  20  in  FIG. 3 . After joining the side piece to the case structure, the resulting case structure including the side piece  20  in  FIG. 4  is wider than the case structure including the side piece  20  in  FIG. 3 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 5 , which shows a partial cross-sectional diagram of the case structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention, the case structure  1 ″ according to the second embodiment of the present invention is similar to the above case structure  1  according to the first embodiment. The difference between them is that the main body  10 ″ of the case structure  1 ″ is provided with two rail grooves  104 ″,  105 ″ on the recess  103 ″ thereof and correspondingly the side piece  20 ″ is provided with two separate protruding rails  201 ″,  202 ″ to respectively engage the rail grooves  104 ″,  105 ″, thereby stably fixing the side piece  20 ″ to the recess  103 ″ of the main body  10 ″. It should be noted that the arrangement of the rail grooves and the corresponding protruding rails are interchangeable, that is, the protruding rails could be formed on the main body, and correspondingly, the rail grooves could be formed on the side piece. Moreover, a stopper mechanism should be formed to prevent unwanted displacement of the side piece relative to the main body during engagement of the protruding rails and the rail grooves. Such a mechanism is a prior art and detailed description of it is thus omitted. 
   Referring to  FIG. 6 , which shows a partial cross-sectional diagram of the case structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention, the case structure  2  according to the third embodiment is similar to the case structure  1  according to the first embodiment. The difference between them is that the upper case  301  and the lower case  302  are respectively provided with recesses  303 . Correspondingly, a U-shaped side piece  40  is formed to cover the recesses  303  formed on the upper case  301  and the lower case  302 . The perforations  304  and slots  305  are formed on the recesses  303  to respectively engage tenons  401  and hooks  402  of the side piece  40 , thereby stably fixing the side piece  40  to one side of the main body  30 . After the engagement, the upper surface of the side piece  40  is flush with the surface of the upper case  301  and the lower surface of the side piece  40  is flush with the surface of the lower case  302 . 
   Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an expansion connector could be added to the case structure. Correspondingly, an insertion opening should be formed on the side piece through which the expansion device could be connected with the case structure. 
   The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. For example, the side piece could be made of other material besides Al alloy, metal or plastic material and the means for attaching the side piece and the main body is not limited to those described in the embodiments above, as long as the side piece can be stably fixed to the main body. Thus, the present invention is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.