Abstract:
A shell structure with a circuit unit is proposed. The shell has an inner surface on which the circuit unit is arranged for providing a modular structure and accomplishing easy design and manufacturing, thereby reducing the numbers of electronic components and the assembly process steps and saving the manufacturing cost and material.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a shell device with a circuit unit and, more particularly, to a device having a circuit unit installed in a shell thereof.  
           [0003]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0004]    As shown in FIG. 1, in a conventional electronic product, electronic components  20   a  are arranged on a printed circuit board  10   a , and upper and lower shells  30   a  conforming to the printed circuit board  10   a  are designed. It is also necessary to provide fixing components  40   a  (e.g., projective poles or fastening structures) on the shells  30   a  for firmly connecting the printed circuit board  10   a , or the printed circuit board  10   a  is locked on projective poles. The printed circuit board  10   a  can thus be firmly connected in the shells  30   a  for circuit control of the electronic product.  
           [0005]    However, because the printed circuit board is assembled on the fixing components of the shells, the processing procedure and the assembly time increase. Moreover, it is necessary to design fixing components on the shells, and the design cost, mold cost and material cost increase accordingly, hence increasing the product cost and thus lowering the competitive capability of the electronic product.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    One object of the present invention is to provide a shell device with a circuit unit, which can reduce the number of components to reduce the cost thereof.  
           [0007]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a shell device with a circuit unit to reduce the processing procedure and time thereof.  
           [0008]    Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a shell device with a circuit unit to reduce the design cost and mold cost thereof.  
           [0009]    Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a shell device with a circuit unit, wherein the circuit unit is arranged on an inner surface of the shell of any shape in a modular way.  
           [0010]    To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a shell device with a circuit unit. The shell device comprises a shell and a circuit unit. The shell has an inner surface. The circuit unit is arranged on the inner surface of the shell.  
           [0011]    The present invention also provides another shell device with a circuit unit. The shell device comprises a shell, a circuit unit and an electric connection component. The shell includes an upper shell and a lower shell having inner surfaces. The circuit unit includes an upper circuit unit and a lower circuit unit, which are arranged on the inner surfaces of the upper shell and the lower shell, respectively. The electric connection component is electrically connected with the upper circuit unit and the lower circuit unit.  
           [0012]    The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which: 
       
    
    
     BRIED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which:  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional flash drive;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a flash drive of the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is an exploded partial view of a flash drive of the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a flash drive of the present invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 is a exploded partial view of a mouse of the present invention; and  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a circuit unit of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]    As shown in FIG. 2, the present invention provides a shell device with a circuit unit, wherein a circuit unit  10  is arranged on the inner surface of a shell  20  to reduce the assembly time of electronic components and save the cost thereof.  
         [0021]    The shell device can apply to electronic products of simple circuit such as flash drives, business card scanners, mice, common scanners and so on. FIGS.  2  to  4  show a flash drive having a shell device with a circuit unit. The device comprises a shell  20  and a circuit unit  10 . The shell  20  includes an upper shell  21  and a lower shell  22 , each having an inner surface and an outer surface. The circuit unit  10  has an upper circuit unit  11  and a lower circuit unit  12 , which are arranged on the inner surfaces of the upper shell  21  and the lower shell  22 , respectively. Electronic components  30  such as IC components, LEDs, resistors and so on can be electrically connected onto the upper circuit unit  11  or the lower circuit unit  12  by means of surface-mount device (SMD) or wire bonding. The upper circuit unit  11  and the lower circuit unit  12  can be electrically connected together through an electric connection component  40 , such as, for example, a conductive foam adhered thereon. An electronic connector  50  is also electrically connected to the circuit unit  10 . It is only necessary to lock the upper shell  21  and the lower shell  22  to complete the electronic product.  
         [0022]    As shown in FIG. 5, the electronic product can be a mouse having the upper shell  21  and the lower shell  22 . The circuit unit  10  can be arranged on the upper surface of the lower shell  22 . Other electronic components  30  are electrically connected onto the circuit unit  10 . It is only necessary to assemble other mechanisms and components like a roller on the upper surface of the lower shell  22  and then securely fasten the upper shell  21  to the lower shell  22  to complete the assembly of the mouse.  
         [0023]    Therefore, the shell device with a circuit unit can reduce installation of printed circuit board and fastening components or locking components of a shell to save the time of assembling the printed circuit board on the shell and the processing procedure. Moreover, the circuit unit is modular, and can be printed or adhered on the inner surface of the shell. The outer shape of the shell of the electronic product can be arbitrarily changed, and it is not necessary to design extra circuit units. The design of fastening components or locking components of the shell can also be saved. Therefore, the processing cost of mold can be lowered to enhance the competitive capability of the electronic product.  
         [0024]    As shown in FIG. 6, the circuit unit  10  can be adhered or printed on the inner surface of the shell  20 . When the circuit unit  10  is printed on the inner surface of the shell  20 , the inner surface of the shell  20  needs to be planar to facilitate printing on the inner surface of the shell  20 . The circuit unit  10  has a conducting layer  17 , an insulating layer  18  and an electrical connection layer  13 . The insulating layer  18  covers the conducting layer  17 . The conducting layer  17  forms a plurality of wires, and the insulating layer  18  forms a plurality of through holes  16 . Part of the wires are exposed by the through hole  15 . The electric connection layer  13  is arranged between the wires  14  to be electrically connected together and is extended into the through holes  15  to electrically connect the wires  14  of the conducting layer  17 , thereby forming the circuit unit  10 . A plurality of layers can thus be formed. The conducting layer  17  has an exposed portion  16  not covered by the insulating layer  18  and the electric connection layer  13  so that the electronic components  15  (as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5) can be electrically connected thereonto. The exposed portion  16  can also be used as an electric connection portion of the electric connection component  40  to achieve electric connection between the upper circuit unit  11  and the lower circuit unit  12  (as shown in FIG. 4). Therefore, the circuit unit  10  can be arranged on the inner surface of the shell  20  of any shape in a modular way.  
         [0025]    To sum up, the shell device with a circuit unit of the present invention can reduce installation of printed circuit board to reduce the processing procedure and time and also reduce the design cost of shell and the mold cost. Moreover, the circuit unit is modular, and can be arranged on the inner surface of a shell of any shape.  
         [0026]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment 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 other 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.