Indicating apparatus for electronic devices

An indicating apparatus transmits beams from an indicating lamp and includes a panel. The panel has an open area defined thereon. The open area includes a C-shaped slot and an upright slot. The C-shaped slot generally surrounds an opaque area, and the upright slot is defined in the opaque area. A center of the opaque area is generally aligned with the indicating lamp, and the opaque area has a protrusion pointing toward the indicating lamp. The preferred shape of the protrusion is either a conical or pyramidal, and reflects the beams from the indicating lamp to the open area. One exemplary application of the indicating apparatus is to indicate a “power on” status of an electronic device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to electronic visual indicating apparatuses, and particularly to an indicating apparatus which prevent light beams from shining directly into a user's eyes.

RELATED ART

Illuminated symbol buttons are employed in many applications, such as in computer systems. For example, a typical personal computer has power buttons respectively positioned on a front bezel of a display monitor and on a housing of the main computer itself. Each of the power buttons includes a panel and a built-in backlight which preferably is a light emitting diode (“LED”). The panel defines a generally C-shaped slot and an upright slot at a gap in the C-shaped slot. The C-shaped slot and the upright slot together form a power symbol for the power button. Light beams transmitted from the backlight can pass out of the power button via the power symbol. That is, when power is on, the backlight emits light and illuminates the power symbol. This allows a user to be aware of the “power on” status of the computer and/or the display.

If the light beams from the backlight directly shine into the user's eyes, this may cause discomfort. Conventionally, to avoid this problem, a semi-transparent component is provided. The semi-transparent component is usually positioned between the panel and the backlight. The semi-transparent component is required to have a surface area large enough to sufficiently cover the power symbol, thus preventing the backlight from shining directly into user's; eyes. However, the semi-transparent component is an expensive part compared with other parts of the power button, and increases the cost of manufacture of the power button.

Therefore, there is a need for an indicating apparatus which not only prevents light beams of a backlight from directly shining into a user's eyes, but also has a reduced cost.

SUMMARY

An indicating apparatus in accordance with a preferred embodiment is provided. The indicating apparatus transmits beams from an indicating lamp and includes a panel. The panel has an open area defined thereon. The open area includes a C-shaped slot and an upright slot. The C-shaped slot generally surrounds an opaque area, and the upright slot is defined in the opaque area. A center of the opaque area is generally aligned with the indicating lamp, and the opaque area has a protrusion pointing toward the indicating lamp. The preferred shape of the protrusion is either conical or pyramidal, and reflects the beams from the indicating lamp to the open area.

A “power on” status indicating apparatus in accordance with a preferred embodiment is also provided. The indicating apparatus transmits beams from an indicating lamp to indicate a “power on” status of an electronic device and includes a panel. The panel has an open area defined thereon. The open area includes a C-shaped slot and an upright slot. The C-shaped slot generally surrounds an opaque area, and the upright slot is defined in the opaque area. A center of the opaque area is aligned with the indicating lamp, and the opaque area has a protrusion pointing toward the indicating lamp. The preferred shape of the protrusion is either conical or pyramidal, and reflects the beams from the indicating lamp to the open area.

The indicating apparatus and the “power on” status indicating apparatus prevent light of the indicating lamp from shining directly into a user's eyes, and therefore eliminates the risk of discomfort to the user. Unlike in the prior art, the protrusion can be made of plastic, and integrally molded together with the panel, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

As an overview, the indicating apparatus provided by the preferred embodiment is used for indicating a “power on” state of an electronic device (of which two typical examples are computers and displays). However, the indicating apparatus may also be used to achieve other purposes.

Referring toFIGS. 1 through 3, an indicating apparatus10provided by the preferred embodiment includes a panel20, and an indicating lamp30installed behind the panel20. The panel20has an open area22, which allows the passage of light from the indicating lamp30. The open area22includes a generally C-shaped slot221and an upright slot223, which cooperatively form a power symbol. The C-shaped slot221generally surrounds an opaque area225of the panel20. A center of the opaque area225is generally aligned with a head portion of the indicating lamp30. The upright slot223is defined in the opaque area225. A bottom portion of the upright slot223spans a complete width of the opaque area225from a front surface of the panel20to a rear surface of the panel20. A remaining main portion of the upright slot223above the bottom portion is defined in a front surface part only of the opaque area225.

The opaque area225has a tapered protrusion227that progressively decreases in size from a front of the panel20to a rear of the panel20in the preferred embodiment. The protrusion227can be either pyramidal or conical. InFIGS. 1 through 3, the protrusion227is shown as being conical with a conic surface228thereon, for the purpose of exemplifying the preferred embodiment. With such a configuration, light beams from the indicating lamp30are reflected by the conic surface228, and are then transmitted through the C-shaped slot221and the upright slot223. With the indicating apparatus10lit in this manner, users can be aware of the “power on” status of the electronic device without the light directly shining into their eyes.

In other embodiments, the opaque area225can be formed with a compound-shaped protrusion instead of the tapered protrusion227. For example, the compound-shaped protrusion can have a surface which is at least partly conical or partly pyramidal in shape. The light beams from the indicating lamp30are reflected by the conical or pyramidal surface, and are then transmitted through the C-shaped slot221and the upright slot223. Thereby, discomfort that may otherwise be caused by the light directly shining into a user's eyes is eliminated.

The protrusion227(and alternative embodiments thereof such as a compound-shaped protrusion) can be made of plastic and be integrally molded together with the panel20. This can greatly reduce the cost of manufacture compared to prior art indicating apparatuses.