Abstract:
Disclosed is a liquid crystal display device including a liquid crystal panel provided with fitting screw insertion holes respectively at a pair of side surfaces thereof, a pair of brackets including a holding portion covering one side surface of the liquid crystal panel, and flat plate portions formed at both ends of the side surface in parallel to the liquid crystal surface and a liquid crystal casing including a rear panel and a front panel covering the liquid crystal panel. In the liquid crystal display device, the pair of the brackets are screwed respectively to both side surfaces of the liquid crystal panel through holes provided in the holding portions and the fitting screw insertion holes of the liquid crystal panel and are screwed to the inside of the liquid crystal casing through holes provided in the flat plate portions.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and an information processing apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to and a liquid crystal display device and an information processing apparatus which includes a main body portion including a keyboard and a panel portion including a liquid crystal panel, in which the panel portion is turnably supported on the main body portion through a hinge or hinges.  
           [0002]    There are known information processing apparatuses in which a panel portion including a liquid crystal panel is turnably supported through a hinge or hinges on a main body portion having a keyboard including a plurality of operation keys arranged.  
           [0003]    In such information processing apparatuses, there is one in which the liquid crystal panel is fitted to a casing of the panel portion through brackets, and the conventional methods of fitting include the following.  
           [0004]    (1) Brackets formed integrally with hinges are used, the liquid crystal panel is fitted to the brackets, and the hinges and the brackets are fitted to the casing.  
           [0005]    (2) Brackets formed integrally with hinges are fitted to the casing, other brackets are fitted to the liquid crystal panel, and the two kinds of brackets are connected to each other.  
           [0006]    (3) Hinges are fitted to the casing, brackets formed independently of the hinges are preliminarily fitted to the casing, and the liquid crystal panel is fitted to the brackets preliminarily fitted to the casing.  
           [0007]    The above-mentioned conventional methods of fitting, however, have the following problems respectively.  
           [0008]    In the method of (1) above, at the time of replacing the liquid crystal panel with another liquid crystal panel differing in outside shape, it is necessary to change the casing to a casing which corresponds to the liquid crystal panel newly used, or to change the brackets formed integrally with the hinges to brackets having a shape corresponding to the liquid crystal panel newly used. Thus, the burden attendant on the replacement of the liquid crystal panel is heavy.  
           [0009]    In the method of (2) above, two kinds of brackets are needed, so that weight is increased that much, and a large layout space is needed for laying out the brackets. Therefore, the panel portion is enlarged in size, and the number of component parts and cost are increased.  
           [0010]    In the method of (3) above, the hinges are fitted separately from the brackets, so that the fitting strength of the hinges is low, which may result in that the support condition of the panel portion is unstable.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    The present invention has been made so as to overcome the above-mentioned problems. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus in which a stable support condition of a panel portion relative to a main body portion is secured and reductions in the production cost and the cost of replacing a liquid crystal panel are contrived.  
           [0012]    According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal display device including:  
           [0013]    a liquid crystal panel provided with fitting screw insertion holes respectively at a pair of side surfaces thereof;  
           [0014]    a pair of brackets including a holding portion covering one side surface of the liquid crystal panel, and flat plate portions formed at both ends of the side surface in parallel to the liquid crystal surface; and  
           [0015]    a liquid crystal casing including a rear panel and a front panel covering the liquid crystal panel,  
           [0016]    wherein the pair of the brackets are screwed respectively to both side surfaces of the liquid crystal panel through holes provided in the holding portions and the fitting screw insertion holes of the liquid crystal panel and are screwed to the inside of the liquid crystal casing through holes provided in the flat plate portions.  
           [0017]    According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus which includes a liquid crystal casing having a rear panel and a front panel covering a liquid crystal panel, and a main body portion having a keyboard provided with predetermined keys, the liquid crystal casing turnably fitted to the main body portion through hinges,  
           [0018]    the information processing apparatus comprising:  
           [0019]    a pair of brackets including a holding portion covering one side surface of the liquid crystal panel, a flat plate portion formed at one end of the side surface in parallel to the liquid crystal surface, and a connection portion provided at the other end of the side surface,  
           [0020]    wherein the holding portion is screwed through a hole provided in the holding portion and a fitting screw insertion hole of the liquid crystal panel,  
           [0021]    the flat plate portion is screwed to the inside of the liquid crystal casing through a hole provided in the flat plate portion, and  
           [0022]    the connection portion is screwed to the inside of the liquid crystal casing through a hole provided in a fitted portion of the hinge disposed overlapping with the connection portion and a hole provided in the connection portion.  
           [0023]    According to the present invention as mentioned above, the fitting strength of the hinges to the casing is enhanced, and a stable support condition of the panel portion relative to the main body portion can be secured.  
           [0024]    In addition, according to the present invention, even in the case of replacing the liquid crystal panel with a new one differing in outside shape, it suffices to replace only the brackets with new ones having a shape corresponding to the new liquid crystal panel. Therefore, burden at the time of replacing the liquid crystal panel is little, and the liquid crystal panel can be easily replaced at low cost.  
           [0025]    Further, according to the present invention, the holding portions of the brackets are fitted in the state of overlapping with side surfaces of the liquid crystal panel, so that each portion of the brackets is not present on each surface orthogonal to the side surfaces of the liquid crystal panel. Therefore, when the liquid crystal panel is disposed in the inside of the casing, space for disposing the brackets is not needed in the thickness direction of the casing, so that a thinner structure of the panel portion can be contrived.  
           [0026]    Besides, according to the present invention, the connection portions of the brackets each include an overlapping portion to be fitted to the casing in the state of overlapping with the fitted portion of the hinge and a direct fitting portion to be fitted directly to the casing. Therefore, the fitting strength of the brackets onto the casing is high, and the torsion or camber would not easily be generated in the brackets at the time of turning the panel portion.  
           [0027]    The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts or elements denoted by like reference symbols.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0028]    [0028]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 2 is a front view of a front panel;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of a portion of a rear panel;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 4 is a front view of the rear panel in the condition where a liquid crystal panel is disposed;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of a bracket;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a hinge;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a major part;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view showing the condition where a first member of the hinge is fitted to the rear panel;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view showing the condition where the bracket and the first member are fitted to the rear panel; and  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view showing the condition where another bracket and the first member are fitted to the rear panel. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0038]    Embodiments of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below referring to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0039]    The information processing apparatus  1  includes a main body portion  2  and a panel portion  3  turnably supported on the main body portion  2  (See FIG. 1).  
         [0040]    A keyboard  4  is provided at an upper surface portion  2   a  of the main body portion  2 , and the keyboard  4  includes predetermined operation keys  5 ,  5  . . . arranged thereon (See FIG. 1). A processing means such as a CPU (central processing unit) is provided in the inside of the main body portion  2 , and processing on signals inputted by operations on the operation keys  5 ,  5  . . . of the keyboard  4  are performed.  
         [0041]    Lock pawl engaging holes  6 ,  6  spaced in the left-right direction are provided at a front end portion of the upper surface portion  2   a  of the main body portion  2  (See FIG. 1).  
         [0042]    Disposing projected portions  7 ,  7  spaced in the left-right direction are provided at a rear end portion of the upper surface portion  2   a  of the main body portion  2 , and the disposing projected portions  7 ,  7  are formed to be elongated in the left-right direction (See FIG. 1).  
         [0043]    The panel portion  3  includes a liquid crystal panel  9  disposed in the inside of a casing  8  (See FIG. 1).  
         [0044]    The casing  8  includes a front panel  10  and a rear panel  11  connected to each other (See FIG. 1). The front panel  10  is rectangular frame like in shape, and pawl disposing holes lob,  10   b  spaced in the left-right direction are provided at one end portion  10   a  of the front panel  10  (See FIG. 2). The one end portion  10   a  is a portion overlapping with the front end portion of the main body portion  2  when the panel portion  3  is turned to close the keyboard  4 . The other end portion  10   c  of the front panel  10  is provided with disposing cutouts  10   d ,  10   d  respectively at a portion near the left end and a portion near the right end.  
         [0045]    The rear panel  11  is roughly rectangular in shape, and fitting bosses  12 ,  12  are provided respectively at a left end portion and a right end portion at the inside surface of one end portion  11   a  of the rear panel  11  (See FIG. 3). The rear panel  11  is provided with positioning pins  13 ,  13  on the direct inside of the fitting bosses  12 ,  12 .  
         [0046]    The other end portion  11   b  of the rear panel  11  is provided with disposing cutouts  11   c ,  11   c  respectively at a portion near the left end and a portion near the right end (See FIGS. 3 and 4), and the disposing cutouts  11   c ,  11   c  are located correspondingly to the disposing cutouts  10   d ,  10   d  of the front panel  10 . The portion between the disposing cutouts  11   c ,  11   c  of the rear panel  11  is formed as a substrate disposing portion lid, and a right end portion and a left end portion of the other end portion  11   b  of the rear panel  11  are formed as fitting portions lie,  11   e.    
         [0047]    The fitting portion  11   e  is provided with a first fitting boss  14  and a positioning pin  15  disposed side by side in the left-right direction (See FIG. 3). In addition, the fitting portion lie is provided with a second fitting boss  16  and a third fitting boss  17  disposed side by side in the left-right direction, and the second fitting boss  16  and the third fitting boss  17  are smaller than the first boss  14  in height.  
         [0048]    The rear panel  11  is provided with presser pieces  11   f ,  11   f  respectively at roughly central portions of the left and right side edges thereof (See FIGS. 3 and 4).  
         [0049]    The liquid crystal panel  9  is fitted to the rear panel  11  through brackets  18 ,  18 , which are fitted respectively to left and right side surfaces  9   a ,  9   a  of the liquid crystal panel  9  (See FIGS. 4 and 7).  
         [0050]    The bracket  18  includes a holding portion  19  having a flat plate like shape elongate in one direction, a bent portion  20  bent at a right angle from one end portion of the holding portion  19 , a fitted surface portion  21  having a flat plate like shape provided at a tip end portion of the bent portion  20 , and a connection portion  22  having a flat plate like shape provided at the other end portion of the holding portion  19 , which are formed as one body (See FIG. 5).  
         [0051]    The fitted surface portion  21  is provided with a positioning hole  21   a  and a screw insertion hole  21   b  disposed side by side in the left-right direction.  
         [0052]    The connection portion  22  is provided with a first screw insertion hole  22   a  and a positioning hole  22   b  disposed side by side in the left-right direction. The connection portion  22  is provided with a second screw insertion hole  22   c  on the opposite side of the holding portion  19  with respect to the positioning hole  22   b . In addition, the connection portion  22  is provided with a relief cutout  22   d.    
         [0053]    In the connection portion  22 , the portion provided with the first screw insertion hole  22   a  and the positioning hole  22   b  is formed as a direct fitting portion  22   e  for direct fitting to the rear panel  11 , and the portion provided with the second screw insertion hole  22   c  is formed as an overlapping portion  22   f  to be fitted to the rear panel  11  in the state of overlapping with a first member which will be described later.  
         [0054]    On the one end portion  11   a  of the rear panel  11 , a latch  23  is supported at a roughly central portion in the left-right direction so as to be slidable in the left-right direction (See FIG. 4). The latch  23  includes a supported portion  23   a  elongate in the left-right direction, lock pawls  23   b ,  23   b  provided on the supported portion  23   a  in the state of being spaced in the left-right direction, and a sliding knob  23   c  provided between the lock pawls  23   b ,  23   b . The latch  23  is so constructed that the supported portion  23   a  is supported on the one end portion  11   a  of the rear panel  11 , and, in the condition where the front panel  10  and the rear panel  11  are connected to each other to constitute the casing  8 , the lock pawls  23   b ,  23   b  are projected through the disposing holes  10   b ,  10   b  of the front panel  10 , and the sliding knob  23   c  is disposed on the outside of the casing  8  (See FIG. 1).  
         [0055]    A circuit substrate  24  for driving the liquid crystal panel  9  is disposed at the substrate disposing portion  11   d  of the rear panel  11 , and a cable  25  led out from the circuit substrate  24  is connected to the liquid crystal panel  9  (See FIG. 4). One end portion of a flexible printed substrate  26  is connected to the circuit substrate  24 , and the other end portion of the flexible printed substrate  26  is connected to a driving circuit (not shown) provided in the inside of the main body portion  2 .  
         [0056]    The panel portion  3  is turnably supported on the main body portion  2  through hinges  27 ,  27 . The hinges  27 ,  27  are included of first members  28 ,  28  fitted to the panel portion  3  and second members  29 ,  29  fitted to the main body portion  2 , respectively (See FIG. 6).  
         [0057]    The first member  28  includes a circular disk form base portion  30 , a turning fulcrum portion  31  having a cylindrical shape short in the axial direction projected to one side from the base portion  30 , and a fitted portion  32  projected from the base portion  30  in the direction opposite to the turning fulcrum portion  31 , which are formed as one body. The fitted portion  32  is rectangular flat plate like in shape, and is provided with a first screw insertion hole  32   a  and a second screw insertion hole  32   b  spaced in the direction of projection from the base portion  30 .  
         [0058]    The second member  29  includes an annular form support portion  33 , a connecting portion  34  projected from the outer circumferential surface of the support portion  33 , and a fitted portion  35  bent at a right angle from the connecting portion  34 , which are formed as one body. The fitted portion  35  is provided with screw holes  35   a ,  35   a ,  35   a.    
         [0059]    Now, the procedure of fitting each of the above-mentioned portions will be described (FIGS.  7  to  9 ).  
         [0060]    First, the brackets  18 ,  18  are fitted respectively to the side surfaces  9   a ,  9   a  of the liquid crystal panel  9  (See FIG. 7). The fitting of the bracket  18  to the side surface  9   a  is conducted by inserting fitting screws  36 ,  36  respectively through insertion holes (not shown) provided in the holding portion  19  of the bracket  18  and screwing the fitting screws  36 ,  36  into the side surface  9   a . The holding portions  19 ,  19  are fitted in the state of overlapping with the side surfaces  9   a ,  9   a  from the lateral side, so that portions of the brackets  18 ,  18  are not present on surfaces orthogonal to the side surfaces  9   a ,  9   a  of the liquid crystal panel  9 . Therefore, when the liquid crystal panel  9  is disposed in the inside of the casing  8 , space for disposing the brackets  18 ,  18  is not needed in the thickness direction of the casing  8 , and a thinner structure of the panel portion  3  can be contrived.  
         [0061]    On the other hand, the turning fulcrum portions  31 ,  31  of the first members  28 ,  28  are preliminarily inserted respectively into the support portions  33 ,  33  of the second members  29 ,  29 , and the second members  29 ,  29  are fitted respectively to predetermined fitting positions of the main body portion  2 . The fitting of the second member  29  to the main body portion  2  is conducted by inserting fitting screws (not shown) respectively through the screw holes  35   a ,  35   a ,  35   a  of the fitted portion  35  and screwing the fitting screws into the main body portion  2 . In the condition where the second members  29 ,  29  are fitted to the main body portion  2 , the support portions  33 ,  33  of the second members  29 ,  29  and the turning fulcrum portions  31 ,  31  of the first members  28 ,  28  are disposed in the inside of the disposing projected portions  7 ,  7  of the main body portion  2 , and the fitted portions  32 ,  32  of the first members  28 ,  28  are projected to a lateral side from the disposing projected portions  7 ,  7 .  
         [0062]    Next, the first members  28 ,  28  of the hinges  27  are fitted respectively to the fitting portions  11   e ,  1 le of the rear panel  11  (See FIG. 8). The fitting of the first member  28  to the fitting portion  11   e  is conducted by inserting a fitting screw  37  through the first screw insertion hole  32   a  of the fitted portion  32  of the first member  28  and screwing the fitting screw  37  into the second fitting boss  16 . In the condition where the first members  28 ,  28  are fitted to the fitting portions  11   e ,  11   e , the disposing projected portions  7 ,  7  of the main body portion  2  are located respectively in the disposing cutouts  11   c ,  11   c.    
         [0063]    Next, the brackets  18 ,  18  are fitted to the rear panel  11  (See FIGS. 2 and 9). The fitting of the bracket  18  to the rear panel  11  is conducted by disposing the bracket  18  relative to the rear panel  11  so that the positioning pins  13 ,  15  on the rear panel  11  are inserted respectively in the positioning hole  21   a  of the fitted surface portion  21  and the positioning hole  22   b  of the connection portion  22  of the bracket  18 , inserting a fitting screw  38  through the screw insertion hole  21   b  of the fitted surface portion  21 , screwing the fitting screw  38  into the fitting boss  12 , inserting a fitting screw  39  sequentially through the second screw insertion hole  22   c  of the connection portion  22  and the second insertion hole  32   b  of the first member  28 , screwing the fitting screw  39  into the third fitting boss  17 , inserting a fitting screw  40  through the first screw insertion hole  22   a  of the connection portion  22 , and screwing the fitting screw  40  into the first fitting boss  14 .  
         [0064]    In the condition where the brackets  18 ,  18  are thus fitted to the rear panel  11 , the overlapping portions  22   f ,  22   f  of the connection portions  22 ,  22  of the brackets  18 ,  18  overlap with parts of the fitted portions  32 ,  32  of the first members  28 ,  28  (See FIG. 9).  
         [0065]    In the condition where the liquid crystal panel  9  fitted with the brackets  18 ,  18  is disposed on the rear panel  11 , the holding portions  19 ,  19  of the brackets  18 ,  18  are pressed sideways respectively by the presser pieces  11   f ,  11   f  provided on the rear panel  11  (See FIG. 2).  
         [0066]    Under the condition where the first members  28 ,  28  and the brackets  18 ,  18  holding the liquid crystal panel  9  are fitted to the rear panel  11  as described above, the front panel  10  is connected to the rear panel  11 .  
         [0067]    Under the condition where the panel portion  3  is turnably supported on the main body portion  2  as described above, when the panel portion  3  is turned in the direction R1 shown in FIG. 1, the keyboard  4  is closed with the panel portion  3 ; when the panel portion  3  is turned in the direction R2 shown in FIG. 1, the keyboard  4  is opened.  
         [0068]    When the panel portion  3  is turned relative to the main body portion  2 , the turning fulcrum portions  31 ,  31  of the first members  28 ,  28  are rotated while sliding relative to the support portions  33 ,  33  of the second members  29 ,  29 , respectively.  
         [0069]    When the keyboard  4  is closed, the lock pawls  23   b ,  23   b  of the latch  23  are engaged respectively with the opening edges of the lock pawl engaging holes  6 ,  6  formed in the main body portion  2 , whereby the panel portion  3  is locked. Under the condition where the panel portion  3  is locked, when the sliding knob  23   c  of the latch  23  is slidden, the lock is released so that the panel portion  3  can be turned.  
         [0070]    As has been described above, in the information processing apparatus  1 , the overlapping portions  22   f ,  22   f  of the brackets  18 ,  18  are fitted to the rear panel  11  in the state of overlapping with parts of the fitted portions  32 ,  32  of the first members  28 ,  28  of the hinges  27 ,  27 , so that the fitting strength of the first members  28 ,  28  to the rear panel  11  is enhanced, and a stable support condition of the panel portion  3  relative to the main body portion  2  can be secured.  
         [0071]    In addition, in order to replace the liquid crystal panel  9  with a liquid crystal panel differing in outside shape, it suffices to change the brackets  18 ,  18  to new brackets having a shape corresponding to the new liquid crystal panel, so that the burden on replacement of the liquid crystal panel is light, and the liquid crystal panel can be easily replaced at low cost.  
         [0072]    Further, in the information processing apparatus  1 , the brackets  18 ,  18  are provided with direct fitting portions  22   e ,  22   e  to be fitted directly to the rear panel  11 , separately from the overlapping portions  22   f ,  22   f , so that the fitting strength of the brackets  18 ,  18  to the rear panel  11  is high, and the brackets  18 ,  18  will not easily suffer torsion or camber at the time of turning the panel portion  3 .  
         [0073]    In addition, the brackets  18 ,  18  are not fitted to left and right end portions of the rear panel  11  but fitted to the one end portion  11   a  and the other end portion  11   b . Particularly, the one end portion  11   a  is the space where the latch  23  is laid out, and the spaces where the fitted surface portions  21 ,  21  of the brackets  18 ,  18  are fitted are the so-called dead spaces normally not used, so that a reduction in size of the panel portion  3  can be contrived through effective use of space.  
         [0074]    While the example in which the first members  28 ,  28  are fitted to the rear panel  11  in the condition where parts of the brackets  18 ,  18  overlap with parts of the fitted portions  32 ,  32  of the first members  28 ,  28  has been described above, this is not limitative. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the first members  28 ,  28  may be fitted to the rear panel  11  by use of brackets  18 A,  18 A such that overlapping portions  22   g ,  22   g  of connection portions  22 A,  22 A overlap with the entire parts of the fitted portions  32 ,  32 . In this case, the fitting strength of the first members  28 ,  28  to the rear panel  11  is further enhanced, and a further stable support condition of the panel portion  3  relative to the main body portion  2  can be secured.  
         [0075]    The concrete shapes and structures of the portions shown in the embodiments described above are mere examples for embodying or carrying out the present invention, and these are therefore not to be construed as limitative of the technical scope of the invention.