Abstract:
A fastening mechanism for an electronic device, which has a shell body and a cover having a first fastening structure, includes a press portion adapted to be exposed from the shell body and pressable to extend resiliently into the shell body, and a second fastening structure adapted to engage to and disengage from the first fastening structure to prevent and permit removal of the cover from the shell body, respectively. A resilient component is adapted to be provided in the shell body, stores a restoring force when the cover is coupled to the shell body, and releases the restoring force when the second fastening structure is disengaged from the first fastening structure for biasing the cover away from the shell body.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 100128897, filed on Aug. 12, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to a fastening mechanism, more particularly to a fastening mechanism for easy removal of a casing and an electronic device having the same. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Currently, 3C products in the market, apart from having greater efficiencies, have also been improving the appearance of their designs. In particular, more and more customers tend to pursue products that can reflect their own personalities and products that can permit change in their appearance. For example, many mobile phones nowadays have replaceable casings. 
         [0006]    Notebook computers have also catch up with this trend, and there are presented some models with replaceable casings. At present, a fastening mechanism includes two parts, one of which is used for fastening a decorative plate, and the other one of which is used for detaching the decorative plate. The fastening mechanism occupies a substantial space. Hence, the current development is to provide a fastening mechanism that can facilitate assembly and disassembly of the decorative plate and that does not occupy a substantial space. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fastening mechanism that can facilitate replacement of a casing. 
         [0008]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device having a fastening mechanism that can facilitate replacement of a casing. 
         [0009]    According to one aspect of this invention, a fastening mechanism of the present invention is applied on an electronic device. The electronic device includes a shell body and a cover detachably coupled to the shell body. The cover has a first fastening structure. The fastening mechanism comprises a press unit and a resilient component. The press unit is adapted to be provided on the shell body and includes a press portion and a second fastening structure. The press portion is adapted to be exposed from the shell body, and is pressable to extend resiliently into the shell body to be disposed at a depressed state. The second fastening structure is fixed to the press portion, is adapted to engage to the first fastening structure when the cover is coupled to the shell body to prevent removal of the cover from the shell body, and is adapted to disengage from the first fastening structure when the press portion is depressed to permit removal of the cover from the shell body. The resilient component is adapted to be provided in the shell body. The resilient component stores a restoring force when the cover is coupled to the shell body, and releases the restoring force when the second fastening structure is disengaged from the first fastening structure for biasing the cover away from the shell body. 
         [0010]    Preferably, the resilient component is a resilient plate, and includes a fixed plate portion adapted to be fixed to the shell body, and a movable plate portion that is resiliently deformable relative to the fixed plate portion for biasing the cover away from the shell body. 
         [0011]    The first fastening structure is configured as a bracket defining an engaging hole. Preferably, the second fastening structure includes a U-shaped connecting portion fixed to the press portion, and a hook portion located at the center of the connecting portion. The hook portion is adapted to engage the engaging hole when the cover is coupled to the shell body. 
         [0012]    Preferably, the hook portion of the second fastening structure has an inclined guiding face adapted to face the cover. The inclined guiding face is adapted to be pushed by the first fastening structure when the cover is moved near the shell body so as to pull the press portion toward the depressed state. 
         [0013]    The shell body includes a positioning plate formed with a positioning notch. Preferably, the press portion includes a press portion body adapted to be exposed from the shell body, a positioning stud extending from the press portion body into the positioning notch, and a compression spring sleeved on the positioning stud and disposed between the press portion body and the positioning plate to bias the press portion body away from the positioning plate. 
         [0014]    The shell body further includes a pair of limiting members located in the connecting portion. Preferably, the connecting portion is adapted to be prevented by the limiting members from displacing in a direction perpendicular to a movement in the direction of the depressed state. 
         [0015]    According to another aspect of this invention, an electronic device comprises a shell body, a cover detachably coupled to the shell body and having a first fastening structure, and a fastening mechanism including a press unit and a resilient component. The press unit is provided on the shell body, and includes a press portion and a second fastening structure. The press portion is exposed from the shell body and is pressable to extend resiliently into the shell body to be disposed at a depressed state. The second fastening structure is fixed to the press portion, is engaged to the first fastening structure when the cover is coupled to the shell body to prevent removal of the cover from the shell body, and is disengaged from the first fastening structure when the press portion is depressed to permit removal of the cover from the shell body. The resilient component is provided in the shell body. The resilient component stores a restoring force when the cover is coupled to the shell body, and releases the restoring force when the second fastening structure is disengaged from the first fastening structure to bias the cover away from the shell body. 
         [0016]    Preferably, the resilient component is a resilient plate, and includes a fixed plate portion fixed to the shell body, and a movable plate portion that is resiliently deformable relative to the fixed plate portion to bias the cover away from the shell body. 
         [0017]    Preferably, the second fastening structure includes a U-shaped connecting portion fixed to the press portion, and a hook portion located at the center of the connecting portion. The first fastening structure is configured as a bracket defining an engaging groove. The hook portion is engaged to the engaging hole when the cover is coupled to the shell body. 
         [0018]    Preferably, the hook portion of the second fastening structure includes an inclined guiding face facing the cover. The inclined guiding face is pushed by the first fastening structure when the cover is moved near the shell body so as to pull the press portion toward the depressed state. 
         [0019]    Preferably, the press portion includes a press portion body exposed from the shell body, a positioning stud extending from the press portion body into the shell body, and a compression spring sleeved on the positioning stud. The shell body includes a positioning plate formed with a positioning notch. The positioning stud extends into the positioning notch. The compression spring is disposed between the press portion body and the positioning plate to bias the press portion body away from the positioning plate. 
         [0020]    Preferably, the shell body further includes a pair of limiting members located in the connecting portion. The limiting members prevent displacement of the connecting portion in a direction perpendicular to a movement in the direction of the depressed state. 
         [0021]    The advantage of this invention resides in that by using the press unit and the resilient component of the fastening mechanism, the cover can be assembled directly to the shell body, and when replacement of the cover is desired, the press unit is simply depressed to detach the cover from the shell body. Therefore, the cover can be conveniently assembled to and disassembled from the shell body. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0022]    Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
           [0023]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a cover and a shell body of an electronic device according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the cover of the embodiment; 
           [0025]      FIG. 3  is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view of  FIG. 2 , illustrating a first fastening structure of the embodiment; 
           [0026]      FIG. 4  is an assembled top perspective view of the embodiment; 
           [0027]      FIG. 5  is an assembled bottom perspective view of the embodiment; 
           [0028]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged perspective view of a press unit of the embodiment; 
           [0029]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged fragmentary bottom perspective view of the embodiment; 
           [0030]      FIG. 8  is a fragmentary top perspective view of the shell body, illustrating how a movable plate portion of a resilient component extends out of an outer side of the shell body; 
           [0031]      FIG. 9  is a sectional view of the embodiment taken along line IX-IX of  FIG. 8 ; 
           [0032]      FIG. 10  is a view similar to  FIG. 9 , but illustrating the first fastening structure pushing against the hook portion of the press unit; 
           [0033]      FIG. 11  is a view similar to  FIG. 9 , but illustrating the first fastening structure and the hook portion being engaged to each other; 
           [0034]      FIG. 12  is a fragmentary bottom perspective view of  FIG. 11 ; and 
           [0035]      FIG. 13  is a view similar to  FIG. 11 , but illustrating a press portion of the press unit being pushed inwardly to move the hook portion away from the first fastening structure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0036]    The above-mentioned and other technical contents, features, and effects of this invention will be clearly presented from the following detailed description of an embodiment in coordination with the reference drawings. 
         [0037]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 5 , an electronic device according to the embodiment of the present invention comprises a shell body  1 , a fastening mechanism  2 , and a cover  3 . 
         [0038]    In this embodiment, the shell body  1  is a back shell of a notebook computer display screen, and the cover  3  is detachably coupled to the shell body  1  to cover the same. That is, the shell body  1  and the cover  3  are a casing component of the display screen of the notebook computer. Alternatively, the shell body  1  and the cover  3  may also be a casing component of a main body of the notebook computer. The shell body  1  includes a plurality of spaced-apart hook grooves  12 . The cover  3  has a first fastening structure  31  and a plurality of spaced-apart engaging hooks  32 . The first fastening structure  31 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , is configured as a U-shaped bracket connected to the cover  3  and defining an engaging hole  311 . The engaging hooks  32  are engaged to the respective hook grooves  12  so as to connect the cover  3  to an outer side  10  of the shell body  1 . 
         [0039]    Referring to  FIGS. 4 to 8 , the fastening mechanism  2  includes a press unit  21  and a resilient component  22 . The press unit  21  includes a press portion  211  and a second fastening structure  212 . The press portion  211  includes a press portion body  213  exposed from a slot  141  in a sidewall  14  of the shell body  1 , two spaced-apart positioning studs  214  extending symmetrically from the press portion body  213  into the shell body  1 , and two compression springs  215  sleeved respectively on the positioning studs  214 . The shell body  1  further includes two positioning plates  11  located at positions corresponding to the positioning studs  214 . Each of the positioning plates  11  is formed with a positioning notch  111 . Each positioning stud  214  extends movably into the positioning notch  111  of a respective positioning plate  11 . Each compression spring  215  is disposed between and abuts against the press portion body  213  and a corresponding positioning plate  11 . 
         [0040]    The second fastening structure  212  includes a U-shaped connecting portion  216  fixed to the press portion body  213 , and a hook portion  217  located at the center of the connecting portion  216 . With reference to  FIG. 6 , the second fastening structure  212 , the press portion body  213  and the positioning studs  214  are connected integrally as one piece. The connecting portion  216  is disposed between the positioning studs  214 . The hook portion  217  is configured as a protruding block that protrudes toward the press portion body  213  to engage releasably the engaging hole  311  of the first fastening structure  31 , and has an inclined guiding face  218  facing the cover  3 . The shell body  1  further includes a pair of spaced-apart limiting members  15  extending into the connecting portion  216 . In this embodiment, the limiting members  15  are configured as engaging hooks that are hooked to the connecting portion  216  so as to prevent movement of the connecting portion  216  relative to the shell body  1  in a top-bottom direction. 
         [0041]    The resilient component  22  is configured as a resilient plate, and includes a fixed plate portion  221  fixed to the shell body  1 , and a movable plate portion  222  that is resiliently deformable relative to the fixed plate portion  221 . In this embodiment, when no external force is exerted on the resilient component  22 , the movable plate portion  222  is in a substantially upright state relative to the fixed plate portion  221 , as shown in  FIG. 9 . When an external force is exerted on the resilient component  22 , the movable plate portion  222  is pushed to move gradually to a substantially flat state relative to the fixed plate portion  221 , as shown in  FIG. 11 . 
         [0042]    The shell body  1  further includes a through hole  13  extending through the outer side  10  thereof in proximity to the slot  141 . When the press unit  21  is disposed on the shell body  1 , the press portion body  213  is exposed from the sidewall  14  through the slot  141 , and the hook portion  217  is registered with the through hole  13  and protrudes toward the outer side  10  of the shell body  1 . 
         [0043]      FIGS. 7 to 13  illustrate how the cover  3  can be assembled to and disassembled from the shell body  1 . 
         [0044]    With reference to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , in combination with  FIG. 1 , prior to assembly of the cover  3  to the shell body  1 , the movable plate portion  222  is disposed substantially upright relative to the fixed plate portion  221  and protrudes on the outer side  10  of the shell body  1 . With reference to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , to assemble the cover  3  to the shell body  1 , the first fastening structure or bracket  31  is brought to align with the hook portion  217 , after which the cover  3  is pressed toward the outer side  10  of the shell body  1 . As the cover  3  gradually moves to the outer side  10  of the shell body  1 , the movable plate portion  222  of the resilient component  22  is depressed by the cover  3  to move gradually toward the through hole  13  (see  FIG. 8 ). Subsequently, the bracket  31  pushes against the inclined guiding face  218  of the hook portion  217 , which in turn pulls the press portion  211  to move resiliently into the shell body  1  so as to be disposed in a depressed state. At this moment, the positioning studs  214  extends partially through the positioning notches  111  of the respective positioning plates  11 , thereby compressing each compression spring  215  between the press portion body  213  and the corresponding positioning plate  11  to store a restoring force. As the bracket  31  continues pushing the inclined guiding face  218  until the hook portion  217  engages the engaging hole  311  of the bracket  31 , with further reference to  FIGS. 11 and 12 , the compression springs  215  are released from being compressed, and the restoring forces thereof bias the press unit  21  to move back to its original position. Hence, assembly of the cover  3  to the shell body  1  is completed. At this time, the movable plate portion  222  of the resilient component  22  is compressed to store a restoring force. 
         [0045]    Referring to  FIG. 13 , in combination with FIGS.  1  and  4 , to disassemble the cover  3  from the shell body  1 , the press portion body  213  of the press portion  211  is pressed inwardly and resiliently into the shell body  1  to result in pushing the hook portion  217  away from the engaging hole  311  of the bracket  31 , thereby disengaging the hook portion  217  from the engaging hole  311  of the bracket  31 . Simultaneously, through the restoring force of the movable plate portion  222 , the movable plate portion  222  biases the cover  3  to move away from the outer side  10  of the shell body  1 . Hence, the cover  3  can be directly removed from the shell body  1 . 
         [0046]    In sum, this invention is designed with the press unit  21  to control assembly of the cover  3  to the shell body  1  and the resilient component  22  to assist disassembly of the cover  3  from the shell body  1  so as to resolve the drawbacks associated using the two-part structure of the conventional fastening mechanism. Further, by using the press unit  21  and the resilient component  22  of the fastening mechanism  2 , the cover  3  can be directly installed on the shell body  1 . To replace the cover  3 , the press portion body  213  is simply depressed, thereby facilitating removal of the cover  3  from the shell body  1 . Therefore, the objects of the present invention can be realized. 
         [0047]    While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.