Device for coupling a cover with a scanner body

A coupling device for coupling a cover to a platform body of a scanner. The coupling device comprises two legs for attaching to the cover; a pivot shaft formed between the distal ends of the two legal a stopper coupled to the pivot shaft at a first predetermined angle; a pivot socket formed at the intersection top surface of the platform and the platform sidewall comprising a cavity, two vertical slots formed in the sidewall of the platform and extending to and penetrating the top surface of the platform for respectively receiving the two legs into the cavity, a horizontal slot formed in the sidewall of the platform for receiving the pivot shaft into the cavity, an upper engaging portion, and a lower engaging portion. When the legs and pivot shaft are received into the cavity, the upper engaging portion, by contact with the pivot shaft, prevents the legs from escaping the cavity during vertical movement of the legs, and the lower engaging portion, by contact with the stopper, prevents the opening of the cover beyond a second predetermined angle. Furthermore, the height of the horizontal gap is slightly larger than the diameter of the pivot shaft, and smaller than the combined length of the diameter of the pivot shaft and the stopper when the legs are in a vertical attitude, such that the pivot shaft and stopper cannot slip out of the horizontal gap during vertical movement of the legs.

BACKAGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a device for coupling a cover with a 
scanner body. More particularly, the present invention relates to a 
coupling device capable of coupling a cover with a scanner body in such a 
manner that the cover is not readily disengaged from the scanner body when 
scanning a thick document with the cover hooding thereon and the cover can 
be held at an inclined angle with respect to the scanner body without 
slumping. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a cover 1' is detached from 
a scanner body 2' that is disclosed in Taiwan Utility Model Publication 
No. 297576. FIG. 2 is a crossed sectional view along the line II--II of 
FIG. 1, depicting a document undergoing scanning. As shown in FIG. 1 and 
FIG. 2, two coupling members 4' with two protrusions 5' formed at their 
lower ends are provided at one rim portion of the cover 1'. Furthermore, 
two cavities 6' used for accommodating the coupling members 4' and the 
protrusions 5' are formed within the corresponding rim of the scanner body 
2', and slots 60' allowing the protrusions 5' and the coupling members 4' 
to penetrate and to sway therethrough are also formed on the surface of 
the corresponding rim of the scanner body 2'. As shown in FIG. 2, a 
document 8' to be scanned is placed on the top surface 20' of the scanner 
body 2' and hooded by the cover 1'. Due to the existence of the document 
8', the cover 1' is elevated from the top surface 20' of the scanner body 
2'. However, in the event that the thickness of the document 8' exceeds a 
certain extent, the coupling members 4' will be urged to escape from the 
slots 60' , and the cover 1' is thus disengaged from the scanner body and 
is unable to function as a cover of the scanner body. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a device for 
coupling a cover with a scanner body, which is capable of positively 
coupling a cover with a scanner body. 
The other object of this invention is to provide a device for coupling a 
cover with a scanner body, which is capable of holding the cover at an 
inclined angle without slumping. 
According to this invention, in the coupling device for coupling a cover 
with a scanner body, the cover is planar and has a coupling verge, the 
scanner body has a top surface for the placement of documents to be 
scanned and a side wall for the installation of the coupling device. The 
coupling device includes one pair of parallel legs integrally formed at 
the coupling verge of the cover and extending in the direction 
substantially normal to the cover; a stopper integrally formed with the 
distal ends of the parallel legs; and a pivot socket integrally formed at 
the intersecting corner of the top surface and the side wall of the 
scanner body, a cavity being formed within the pivot socket, a through 
slot, for the legs and the stopper penetrating therethrough, being formed 
in the side wall of the scanner body and the ends of the through slot 
being extending to the top surface of the scanner body so as to allow the 
distal ends of the parallel legs to enter the cavity by penetrating 
therethrough and to perform pivotal movement therewithin, and an engaging 
portion being formed on the inner wall of the cavity so as to engage with 
the stopper when the cover is swiveled around the pivot socket for a 
preset angle, whereby the cover and the scanner body are coupled by 
inserting the distal ends of the parallel legs into the cavity through the 
through slot of the pivot socket. 
Furthermore, in the coupling device for coupling a cover with a scanner 
body, the stopper is extending from the distal ends of the legs at a 
predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axes of the legs so 
as to allow the cover to be swiveled from a horizontal position to a 
retained position through an angle larger than 90 degrees. 
Furthermore, in the coupling device for coupling a cover with a scanner 
body, the engaging portion of the pivot socket is a through slot having an 
engaging surface formed at its end for engaging the stopper when the cover 
is swiveled to its retained position. 
Furthermore, according to this invention, the coupling device for coupling 
a cover with a scanner body further includes one pair of parallel legs 
integrally formed at the coupling verge of the cover and extending in the 
direction substantially normal to the cover; a stopper integrally formed 
with the distal ends of the parallel legs; and a pivot socket integrally 
formed at the intersecting corner of the top surface and the side wall of 
the scanner body, a cavity being formed within the pivot socket, a through 
slot, for the legs and the stopper penetrating therethrough, being formed 
in the side wall of the scanner body and the ends of the through slot 
being extending to the top surface of the scanner body so as to allow the 
distal ends of the parallel legs to enter the cavity by penetrating 
therethrough and to perform pivotal movement therewithin, and an engaging 
portion being formed on the inner wall of the cavity so as to engage with 
the stopper when the cover is swiveled around the pivot socket for a 
preset angle, whereby the cover and the scanner body are pivotally coupled 
by two sets of the legs, stoppers, and pivot sockets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view partially showing the structure of 
the coupling device applied on the according to this invention. As shown 
in FIG. 3, one pair of parallel legs 220 is integrally formed at the 
coupling verge 22 of a cover 2. The legs 220 are extending along a line 
4--4 with the direction substantially normal to the cover 2. A stopper 240 
is integrally formed with the distal ends of the parallel legs 220. The 
stopper 240 is extending from the distal ends of the legs 220 at an angle 
.theta. with respect to the longitudinal axes of the legs 220, i.e. along 
the line 4--4. A pivot socket 10 is integrally formed at the intersecting 
corner of the top surface 11 and the side wall 12 of the scanner body 1. A 
cavity 130 is formed within the pivot socket 10, and a slot 110 is formed 
in the side wall 12 of the scanner body 1. The upper ends 111 of the slot 
110 extend to the top surface 11 of the scanner body 1. A section line 
I--I is passed through the stopper 240 of the cover 2 parallel with the 
line y--y as well as the cavity 140 of the body 1. An arrow A with a 
direction is normal to the line I--I and points from one leg 220 to 
another leg 220. 
Referring to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, FIG. 4A is perspective view showing the 
connection between the cover 2 and the body 1 with the coupling device 
according to FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view along a plane S 
with an arrow B of FIG. 4A. 
The plane S, overlapped with the line I--I, is a presumptive plane 
perpendicular to the top surface 11 and partially intersected with the 
body 1 and the cover 2, wherein the plan S is passed through the slot 140 
and the cavity 130. The arrow B, in parallel with the arrow A, is normal 
vector point to the plane S, and therefore the connection between the 
cover 2 and the body 1 and the inner structure of cavity 130 can be 
clearly seen with the direction of arrow B in FIG. 4B. As shown in FIG. 
4B, a through slot 140 is formed in the inner wall of the cavity 130, and 
an engaging surface 141 is formed at its upper end. 
For the purpose of installing the cover 2 onto the scanner body 1, the 
distal ends of the parallel legs 220 together with the stopper 240 are 
directed to insert into the cavity 130 through the slot 110. 
Referring to FIG. 5A and 5B, FIG. 5A is perspective view partially showing 
the cover 2 fully placed on the top surface 11 of the body 1, and FIG. 5B 
is a cross-sectional view along the plan S with the normal arrow B 
according to FIG. 5A. 
As shown in FIG. 5A, the cover 2 is fully placed on the top surface 11 of 
the body, and the parallel legs 220 are rotated into a vertical attitude 
(see FIG. 5B). 
Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a perspective view partially showing a thick 
document 31 placed on the body 1 with the cover 2 hooding thereon. The 
document 31 with thickness H is placed on the top surface 11 of the 
scanner body 1 for scanning. Under this circumstance, the cover 2 is 
horizontally raised a distance of H'. However, when the cover 2 is raised 
further to a height of H', the stopper 240 will contact the inner upper 
wall 131 of the cavity 130. As a result, the cover 2 will be restrained 
from ascending further, and the cover 2 will not escape from the scanner 
body 1. 
Referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the stopper 
240 engaging with the engaging portion of the socket of the coupling 
device so as to retain the cover at an inclined angle according to FIG. 
5B. 
When the cover 2 is shifted from the horizontal attitude to an inclined 
attitude (see FIG. 7) by swiveling an angle .alpha., the 240 formed on the 
pivoting shaft 230 stopper will contact the engaging surface 141 of the 
slot 140. By this arrangement, the cover 2 can be held at the inclined 
attitude without slumping down. 
According to the structure of this invention, the cover can couple with the 
scanner body positively without disengaging. 
Furthermore, the cover can be held at an inclined angle without slumping.