Detachable face panel mounting arrangement for an electronic apparatus

A detachable face panel mounting arrangement, which includes an apparatus housing, the apparatus housing having a receiving chamber and two raised portions bilaterally provided at a front doorstep at a front side of the receiving chamber, a face panel for covering on the receiving chamber, the face panel having a vertical wall and a horizontal wall connected at right angles, a plurality of springy upright retaining rods raised from the horizontal wall for engagement with the raised portions at the apparatus housing, a plurality of vertical lugs respectively formed integral with the vertical wall and protruding over the topmost edge of the vertical wall, and at least one locating rib formed integral with the vertical wall at a back side, and a bracket for coupling the face panel to a module mounted in the receiving chamber, the bracket having a plurality of vertical insertion slots, which receive the vertical lugs of the face panel respectively, a plurality of openings for coupling to the module, and at least one springy retaining rod for engagement with the at least one locating rid at the face panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates to a detachable face panel mounting
 arrangement for an electronic apparatus, for example, notebook computer.
 The detachable face panel mounting arrangement comprises a face panel
 detachably covered on a receiving chamber in the housing of an electronic
 apparatus, and a bracket, which couples the face panel to the module
 mounted in the receiving chamber.
 Regular notebook computers commonly equipped with detachable peripheral
 modules such as HDD (hard diskdrive) module, battery module, etc. When a
 module is removed from the respective receiving chamber in the notebook
 computer, the empty receiving chamber must be covered with a separately
 prepared face panel. The face panel must be properly received in place for
 further use when detached from the receiving chamber.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The detachable face panel mounting arrangement of the present invention
 comprises a face panel for covering a receiving chamber in an electronic
 apparatus, for example, notebook computer, and a bracket for coupling the
 face panel to a module, which is mounted in the receiving chamber in the
 notebook computer. The face panel comprises hooked retaining rods for
 hooking on respective raised portions at the front side of the receiving
 chamber, and locating ribs for engagement with the bracket. The bracket
 comprises hooked retaining rods for engagement with the locating rids at
 the face panel, and keyway-like openings for coupling to respective
 locating elements, for example, shoulder bolts at the module. When the
 face panel is pushed downwards, the module can be pulled with the face
 panel and the bracket out of the receiving chamber of the notebook
 computer. After removal of the module, the face panel can be detached from
 the module, and separately fastened to the notebook computer to close the
 receiving chamber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 Referring to FIGS. from 1 through 4, a notebook computer 10 is shown having
 a receiving chamber 12 extended to one vertical sidewall 11 of the housing
 thereof for receiving a computer peripheral module 40, for example, a HDD
 (Hard disk drive) module or battery module. The module 40 comprises two
 locating elements, for example, shoulder bolts 41 bilaterally provided at
 the front sidewall thereof. The receiving chamber 12 comprises two raised
 portions 13 bilaterally provided at the front doorstep thereof, a vertical
 mounting hole 14 through the bottom side wall thereof behind the doorstep,
 and two protruding portions 15 respectively raised from two vertical
 lateral side walls thereof near two distal ends of the doorstep (see FIG.
 1).
 A face panel 20 is provided for closing the receiving chamber 12. The face
 panel 20 comprises a vertical wall 21 and a horizontal wall 22 connected
 at right angles, two upright positioning elements 221 raised from the
 horizontal wall 22 near its two distal ends, which are forced into
 engagement with the protruding portions 15 upon insertion of the face
 panel 20 into the front side of the receiving chamber 12, two springy
 upright retaining rods 222 raised from the horizontal wall 22 between the
 upright positioning elements 221 corresponding to the raised portions 13
 in the receiving chamber 12, the upright retaining rods 222 each having a
 hooked top end 223 respectively hooked on the raised portions 13 upon
 insertion of the face panel 20 into the front side of the receiving
 chamber 12, a horizontal mounting lug 224 backwardly extended from the
 horizontal wall 22 on the middle, the horizontal mounting lug 224 having a
 through hole 225 connected to the mounting hole 14 in the receiving
 chamber 12 by a fastening element, for example, a screw 226, a plurality
 of vertical lugs 211 respectively formed integral with the vertical wall
 21 and protruding over the topmost edge of the vertical wall 21, a
 plurality of locating ribs 212 formed integral with the vertical wall 21
 at the back side and respectively spaced between each two adjacent
 vertical lugs 211, and a handhold portion 213 formed integral with the
 vertical wall 21 at the front side for pulling with hand (see FIGS. 1 and
 2).
 A bracket 30 is coupled to the front sidewall of the module 40 to hold the
 face panel 20 in place. The bracket 30 comprises a plurality of vertical
 insertion slots 31, which receive the vertical lugs 211 of the face panel
 20 respectively, two openings 32 respectively hung on the shoulder bolts
 41 at the module 40, and a plurality of springy retaining rods 33
 respectively forced into engagement with the locating rids 212 at the face
 panel 20. The openings 32 each comprise a circular hole 322 and an oblong
 hole 321 vertically disposed in communication with each other. The
 diameter of the circular hole 322 is greater than the diameter of the head
 of the shoulder bolts 41. The width of the oblong hole 321 is smaller than
 the diameter of the head of the shoulder bolts 41, but greater than the
 diameter of the shoulder of the shoulder bolts 41. The springy retaining
 rods 33 each have a bottom end terminating in a hooked portion 331
 respectively hooked on the locating rids 212 at the face panel 20.
 After removal of the screw 226 from the horizontal lug 224 at the face
 panel 20 and the mounting hole 14 at the notebook computer 10, the
 handhold portion 213 is pushed downwards with the hand to disengage the
 retaining rods 222 at the face panel 20 from the raised portions 13 at the
 notebook computer 10 (see FIG. 3), and simultaneously to move the bracket
 30 relative to the module 40, enabling the circular hole 322 of each
 opening 32 to be respectively moved away from the shoulder bolts 41 and
 the oblong hole 321 of each opening 32 to be respectively forced into
 engagement with the shoulder of each shoulder bolt 41, and then the face
 panel 20 is pulled outwards from the receiving chamber 12 of the notebook
 computer 10, enabling the module 40 to be moved with the face panel 20 out
 of the notebook computer 10 (see FIG. 4). After removal of the module 40
 from the notebook computer 10, the face panel 20 is disconnected from the
 module 40, and then fastened to the notebook computer 10 to close the
 receiving chamber 12.
 While only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and
 described, it will be understood that various modifications and changes
 could be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the
 invention disclosed.