Abstract:
A portable computer has a housing which has an opening formed on an upper side, and a monitor installed inside the housing at the opening. The monitor has a chassis, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel fixed on the chassis for displaying images, and at least a spring. The spring has a first end connected to the chassis and a second end connected to the housing for elastically supporting the monitor inside the housing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a portable computer, and more specifically, to a portable computer that uses a spring to buffer shock force of a monitor.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    In the past, consumers have used desktop computers to process documents. However, since the desktop computers are heavy and hard to transport, users cannot process documents when they go out. As technology develops day-by-day, there are many kinds of portable computers such as notebook computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) being developed. These popular portable computers are easy to carry out so that users can process documents conveniently when they are going out. However, since users are always carrying out the portable computers, the portable computers are usually in an environment with a lot of vibration. It is possible that the portable computers may fall down due to the carelessness of users. Therefore, the portable computers are easily damaged, especially liquid crystal displays (LCDs) installed inside the portable computers. These LCDs are made of fragile material, and they cannot sustain great shock force. However, the LCDs make up an indispensable display interface of portable computers. Therefore, portable computers with buffers to absorb shock force are being developed by researchers.  
           [0005]    Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art portable computer  10 . The portable computer  10  comprises a housing  12  and a monitor  20 . The housing  12  has an opening  14  formed on an upper side of the housing  12 . The monitor  20  is installed inside the housing  12  at the opening  14 . The housing  12  further comprises a plurality of buttons  16  for allowing users to input signals into the portable computer  10 .  
           [0006]    Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is an exploded diagram of the monitor  20  of the prior art portable computer  10 . The monitor  20  comprises a printed circuit board (PCB)  22 , a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel  24 , a frame  26 , a touch panel  28 , and a protective film  30 . The PCB  22  comprises circuits and a processor  18  for controlling operations of the portable computer  10 . The LCD panel  24  is installed on the PCB  22  for displaying images. The frame  26  is installed around the PCB  22  and the LCD panel  24  for fixing the LCD panel  24  on the PCB  22 . The touch panel  28  is installed on an upper side of the LCD panel  24  for receiving instructions inputted in a touch manner by users and transmitting the instructions to the processor  18  for further processing. The transparent protective film  30  is installed on the touch panel  28  for protecting the touch panel  28 .  
           [0007]    In order to avoid damage to the monitor  20  when the portable computer  10  receives a vibration or a shock force, the prior art monitor  20  further comprises a plurality of elastomers  32  installed on a bottom of the monitor  20 . The elastomers  32  are made of elastic materials such as plastics or cushions. First sides  32   a  of the elastomers  32  are fixed on a bottom of the PCB  22 , and second sides  32   b  of the elastomers  32  are fixed on an inner side of the housing  12  so as to elastically support the monitor  20  inside the housing  12  (please refer to FIG. 1). When the monitor  20  receives a shock force, the elastomers  32  can absorb a portion of the shock force so as to prevent the monitor  20  from receiving damage.  
           [0008]    However, the elastomers  32  made of plastics or cushions can only absorb a little portion of shock force. Therefore, when the monitor  20  receives the shock force, a large portion of the shock force is still absorbed by the monitor  20 , and only a little portion of the shock force is absorbed by the elastomers  32 . Although a large thickness can make the elastomers  32  absorb more shock force, it will also increase the volume of the elastomers  32  which will in turn increase the volume of the portable computer  10 . Moreover, the characteristics of the plastics and the cushions change under high temperatures and a high moisture environment, thereby further influencing the ability to absorb shock force. In addition, since the bottom of the PCB  22  has many circuits distributed on it, the elastomers  32  cannot be installed on the whole area of the bottom of the PCB  22 , but can only be installed at appropriate positions in small pieces. However, this situation makes each position of the LCD panel  24  receive unequal force. Thus, the LCD panel  24  is more easily damaged. In different kinds of portable computers, the material, weight, and strength of the LCD panel  24  and PCB  22  are also different. Therefore, designers must choose the proper characteristics such as coefficient of elasticity of elastomers  32  to properly support the monitor. However, the characteristics of the elastomers  32  such as plastics or cushions must be changed through difficult manufacturing techniques. That is not convenient for producers. Therefore, the prior art buffer lacks flexibility, thereby increasing the cost of production.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0009]    It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a portable computer that uses a spring to buffer shock force of a monitor, so as to solve the problem of the prior art technology.  
           [0010]    The claimed invention, briefly summarized, discloses a portable computer. The portable computer comprises a housing which has an opening formed on an upper side, and a monitor installed inside the housing at the opening. The monitor comprises a chassis, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel fixed on the chassis for displaying images, and at least a spring. The spring has a first end connected to the chassis and a second end connected to the housing for elastically supporting the monitor inside the housing.  
           [0011]    It is an advantage of the claimed invention that the claimed invention comprises at least a spring. The spring can absorb most of a shock force received by the monitor. Therefore the monitor is not easily damaged. Moreover, the characteristics of the spring are easily changed and the assembly of the spring is also easy and convenient.  
           [0012]    These and other objectives of the claimed invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art portable computer.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is an exploded diagram of a monitor of the prior art portable computer.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a present invention portable computer.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is an exploded diagram of the present invention portable computer. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0017]    Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a present invention portable computer  34 . The portable computer  34  comprises a housing  36  and a monitor  40 .  
         [0018]    The housing  36  has an opening  38  formed on an upper side of the housing  36 . The monitor  40  is installed inside the housing  36  at the opening  38 . The housing  36  further comprises a plurality of input buttons  39  for allowing users to input signals into the portable computer  34 .  
         [0019]    Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is an exploded diagram of the present invention portable computer  34 . A monitor  40  of the portable computer  34  comprises a PCB  42 , a metal plate  52 , an LCD panel  44 , a touch panel  46 , a frame  48 , and a protective film  50 . The PCB  42  comprises circuits and a processor  37  for controlling operations of the portable computer  34 . The LCD panel  44  is used to display images. The touch panel  46  is installed on the LCD panel  44  for receiving instructions inputted in a touch manner by users and transmitting the instructions to the processor  37  for further processing. In order to increase the rigidity of the monitor  40 , the monitor  40  further comprises the metal plate  52  installed between the PCB  42  and the LCD panel  44  so as to increase rigidity. The frame  48  is installed around the PCB  42 , the metal plate  52 , the LCD panel  44 , and the touch panel  46  so as to fix the LCD panel  44 , the touch panel  46 , and the metal plate  52  on the PCB  42  and form a strong structure with the use of the metal plate  52 . The transparent protective film  50  is installed on the touch panel  46  for protecting the touch panel  46 .  
         [0020]    In order to prevent the monitor  40  from receiving damage when the portable computer  34  receives a shock force or a vibration, a bottom of the monitor  40  further comprises four metal spiral springs  54  so as to buffer the shock force or the vibration. Each spiral spring  54  corresponds to a post  56 . Each post  56  has a first end  56   a  for being inserted into a corresponding hole  58  on the PCB  42 , and a second end  56   b  for being inserted into a first end  54   a  of the spiral spring  54  so as to fix the first end  54   a  of the spiral spring  54  on the bottom of the PCB  42 . A second end  54   b  of the spiral spring  54  is fixed on an inner side of the housing  36  so that the spiral spring  54  can elastically support the monitor  40  inside the housing  36 .  
         [0021]    The metal spiral springs  54  are good shock absorbers. When the portable computer  34  receives a shock force or vibration, the spiral springs  54  can absorb most of the shock force received by the monitor  40  so that the monitor  40  is not easily damaged. In addition, since the monitor  40  further comprises the metal plate  52  installed between the PCB  42  and the LCD panel  44 , the shock force transmitted from the spiral springs  54  is distributed evenly on the metal plate  52 . Therefore, the monitor  40  is not easily damaged by an unbalanced force distribution.  
         [0022]    The spiral springs  54  and posts  56  have small volume, and they only occupy a little space inside the housing  36  of the portable computer  34 . In addition, the spiral springs  54  are installed on the bottom of the PCB  42  in an inserted manner. It is easy to change the positions of the spiral springs  54  by just inserting the spiral springs  54  into the corresponding holes  58  on the PCB  42 . If designers want to change the shock absorbing ability of the monitor  40 , designers only need to change to a different spiral spring  54  which has a different coefficient of elasticity. It is easy for producers to produce spiral springs with different characteristic by just changing the circle-number or the space between two successive circles of the spiral springs. The production technology of the spiral spring is mature at present, and producers can easily produce the different spiral springs in low cost. Moreover, the spiral springs  54  and posts  56  are made of productive metal material. The spiral springs  54  and posts  56  can electrically connect to the PCB  42  (such as electrically connect to a common ground of the PCB  42 ) so as to form an additional current path to the housing  36 . Therefore, accumulative electric charges on the PCB  42  can discharge to the housing  36  through the spiral springs  54  and the posts  56 , thereby increasing the electrostatic discharge (ESD) ability of the portable computer  34 . The spiral springs  54  are cheap and easy to produce. Thus, the production cost of the monitor can be reduced.  
         [0023]    Therefore, the spiral springs  54  can not only absorb the shock force efficiently, but also decrease costs and make the assembly of the monitor  40  more convenient and easy. Thus, the monitor  40  of the present invention portable computer  34  can solve the problem of the prior art technology.  
         [0024]    The springs of the present embodiment mentioned above are the spiral springs  54 . However, designers also can use other kinds of springs (such as flat metal springs) instead of the spiral spring  54 . In addition, the touch panel  46  of the present embodiment is installed inside the frame  48  and surrounded by the frame  48 . However, the touch panel  46  can also be installed outside the frame  48  and on the LCD panel  44 . These and other variations also belong to the present invention technology.  
         [0025]    In contrast to the monitor  20  of the prior art portable computer  10 , the monitor  40  of the present invention portable computer  34  has at least a spring  54  installed between the monitor  40  and the housing  36 . The spring  54  can elastically support the monitor  40  inside the housing  36 . The monitor  40  also has a metal plate  52  to equally distribute the shock force received by the monitor  40 . When the monitor  40  receives a shock force, the spring  54  can absorb most of the shock force so that the monitor  40  is not easily damaged. Moreover, the characteristics of the spring are easily changed and the assembly of the spring  54  is also easy and convenient. The spring  54  is also cheap. Therefore, the present invention portable computer  34  can be produced with low cost.  
         [0026]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.