Abstract:
A flat panel monitor includes a first frame having an opening at a bend; a second frame having a protrusion corresponding to the opening, the protrusion being inserted into the opening for fixing the second frame to the first frame; and a display panel fixed on a housing formed by fixing the second frame to the first frame.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a flat panel monitor, and more particularly, to a flat panel monitor including a frame having a protrusion.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     A flat display monitor, such as a liquid crystal display monitor or a plasma display monitor, is a thinner and lighter monitor compared to a traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor. Recently, as the related technology keeps improving, the manufacturing costs of flat display monitors are getting lower, so that flat display monitors are becoming much more popular for home use. For portability and convenience, laptop computers also use flat display monitors.  
         [0005]     Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  shows a flat display monitor  100  of a laptop computer of the prior art.  FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the flat display monitor  100  shown in  FIG. 1 . The flat display monitor  100  of the prior art comprises a metal frame  110 , a plastic frame  120 , and a display panel  130 . The metal frame  110  and the plastic frame  120  are fixed together to form a housing  115  for accommodating the display panel  130 . The flat display monitor  100  further comprises a backlight module  140  installed on the plastic frame  120  for providing light to the display panel  130 . Because the metal frame  110  covers edges of a display surface of the display panel  130 , the light from the backlight module  140  only penetrates through the display panel  130  without leaking from the edges of the metal frame  110 .  
         [0006]     Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a magnified localized view of the flat display monitor  100  shown in  FIG. 1 . In the prior art, the metal frame  110  and the plastic frame  120  are fixed together by screws  112 . However, if too much torque is applied to a screw  112 , the metal frame  110  becomes deformed and can even press on the display panel  130  resulting in light leakage. Moreover, in the assembly process, driving the screws  112  takes a lot of time and increases manufacturing cost.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     It is therefore an objective of the claimed invention to provide a flat panel monitor including a frame having a protrusion in order to solve the problems of the prior art.  
         [0008]     The flat panel monitor of the present invention includes a metal frame having an opening at a bend; a plastic frame having a protrusion corresponding to the opening, the protrusion being inserted into the opening for fixing the plastic frame to the metal frame; and a display panel fixed on a housing formed by fixing the plastic frame to the metal frame.  
         [0009]     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a flat display monitor of a laptop computer of the prior art.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the flat display monitor shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a magnified localized view of the flat display monitor shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a diagram showing a flat display monitor of a laptop computer of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the flat display monitor shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a magnified localized view of the flat display monitor shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is a diagram showing another flat display monitor of a laptop computer of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0017]     Please refer to  FIG. 4  to  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 4  shows a flat display monitor  200  of a laptop computer of the present invention.  FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the flat display monitor  200  shown in  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 3  is a magnified localized view of the flat display monitor  200  shown in  FIG. 4 . The flat display monitor  200  of the present invention comprises a metal frame  210 , a plastic frame  220 , a display panel  230 , and a backlight module  240 . The metal frame  210  and the plastic frame  220  are fixed together to form a housing  215  for accommodating the display panel  230 . The backlight module  240  is installed on the plastic frame  220  for providing light to the display panel  230 . The metal frame  210  has a plurality of openings  216  located at its bends, which are between the top plane  212  and the side plane  214 . The plastic frame  220  has a plurality of protrusions  222  corresponding to the openings  216 . The protrusion  222  are inserted into the openings  216  for fixing the plastic frame  220  to the metal frame  210 . Because the openings  216  are located at the bends of the metal frame  210 , it is very difficult to separate the protrusions  222  from the openings  216 , even when pulling the lower edge of the side plane  214  outwards. In addition, because the metal frame  210  and the plastic frame  220  are fixed together without using screws, the metal frame  210  cannot be deformed to cause light leakage from too much torque applied to such screws. For fixing the metal frame  210  and the plastic frame  220  together, the operator only needs to press the metal frame  210  and the plastic frame  220  (around the openings  216  and the protrusions  222 ) to quickly assemble the flat panel monitor of the present invention.  
         [0018]     In the prior art, the printed circuit board&#39;s  142  ground  144  of the backlight module  140  is electrically connected to the metal frame  110  via the screw  112  for grounding. In order to replace the screw, the metal frame  210  of the present invention further has a concave  218  for electrically connecting the printed circuit board&#39;s  242  ground  244  of the backlight module  240  to the metal frame  210 . Generally, the metal frame  210  is a steel frame, and the plastic frame  220  is made by injection molding.  
         [0019]     Please refer to  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7  shows another flat display monitor  300  of a laptop computer of the present invention. In the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 4 , the openings  216  are located at the bends of the metal frame  210 , which are between the top plane  212  and the side plane  214 . However, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the openings  316  can also be located at the side plane  314  of the metal frame  310 , as long as fixing the plastic frame to the metal frame of the flat panel monitor by inserting the protrusion into the opening can be realized.  
         [0020]     Summarizing the above, the present invention provides an easily assembled flat panel monitor  200 ,  300  of a laptop computer. The flat panel monitors  200 ,  300  of the present invention fix the metal frames  210 ,  310  and the plastic frames  220 ,  320  together by inserting the protrusions  222 ,  322  into the openings  216 ,  316  without using screws.  
         [0021]     In contrast to the prior art, the flat panel monitors  200 ,  300  of the present invention can prevent light leakage caused by applying too much torque to screws. In addition, for fixing the metal frame  210 ,  310  and the plastic frame  220 ,  320  together, the operator can easily apply pressure around the openings  216 ,  316  of the metal frame  210 ,  310  and the protrusions  222 ,  322  of the plastic frame  220 ,  320  to quickly assemble the flat panel monitor  200 ,  300  of the present invention. This reduces the assembly time and manufacture cost.  
         [0022]     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method 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.