Abstract:
An electronic device that facilitate locating connection port thereof is described. The main portion has a lateral surface. The connection port is disposed on the lateral surface. The identification symbol is disposed on the lateral surface. The light source is disposed within the main portion and operable to emit light through the identification symbol so as to project a pattern of the identification symbol on a surface, which supports the main portion. The connection port on a lateral surface of the electronic device is located according to where the pattern of the identification symbol is located.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 96150596, filed Dec. 27, 2007, which are herein incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electronic device that facilitates locating connection port thereof. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     The computers or computing devices are all equipped with powerful computing and communication capabilities whatever their sizes are large or small. In order to expand more functionalities for the computers, several types of connection ports are designed on the main body to electrically coupled with other peripheral devices. 
     Take a notebook computer as example, its housing is equipped with different connection ports, i.e. USB port, VGA port an etc. Those connection ports are located differently on different brand of notebook computers. Thus, users usually take a while to locate connection ports when they would like to use them at the first time. Moreover, it is somewhat difficult for users to locate connection ports under a dim environment, i.e. a conference room with all lamps off for a projector displaying images on a screen. 
     SUMMARY 
     It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide an electronic device that facilitate locating connection port thereof. 
     In accordance with the foregoing and other objectives of the present invention, an electronic device includes a main portion, a connection port, an identification symbol and a light source. The main portion has a lateral surface. The connection port is disposed on the lateral surface. The identification symbol is disposed on the lateral surface. The light source is disposed within the main portion and operable to emit light through the identification symbol so as to project a pattern of the identification symbol on a surface, which supports the main portion. 
     In accordance with the foregoing and other objectives of the present invention, an electronic device that facilitate locating connection port thereof allows a pattern of an identification symbol to identify a connection port is projected from an electronic device toward a surface, which supports the electronic device. The connection port on a lateral surface of the electronic device is located according to where the pattern of the identification symbol is located. 
     Thus, the present invention provides a way or mechanism for a user to locate a connection port on a lateral surface of an electronic device by a corresponding illuminated identification symbol on a top surface or a corresponding projected pattern of the identification symbol on the surface under a dim environment. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings, 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an electronic device according to one preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a side view of the electronic device as illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates how the connection port being located by projecting its pattern; and 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a top view of the electronic device as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an electronic device according to one preferred embodiment of this invention. The electronic device  100  includes a main portion  102  and a display portion  106 . The main portion  102  includes a top surface  102   a  with a keyboard  116  allowing users to input information or data. The main portion  102  also has a lateral surface  102   b , which includes several connection ports  104  thereon. Several light sources  104  (such as light emitting diode) are installed within the main portion  102 . When the light sources  104  illuminate the lateral surface  102   b , the patterns are projected onto a surface (may be the surface supporting the electronic device)  110 . Therefore, the connection ports  104  on the lateral surface  102   b  can be located according to the patterns. In this embodiment, the connection ports  104  are designed on the lateral surface  102   b . However, the connection ports can be designed on other lateral surfaces of the main portion  102 , i.e. lateral surfaces  102   c  or  102 d. When the main portion  102  is placed on the surface  110 , which supports a bottom surface  102 e of the main portion  102  (referring to  FIG. 2 ), the lateral surfaces, i.e.  102   b ,  102   c  or  102   d , of the main portion  102  are immediately-adjacent to the bottom surface  102   e  (compared with the top surface  102   a ). 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a side view of the electronic device as illustrated in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  illustrates how the connection port being located by projecting its pattern. Aside from connection ports  104  designed on the lateral surface  102   b  of the main portion  102 , identification symbols are designed thereon to identify the connection ports, i.e. the identification symbol  108   a  (an earphone pattern) is used to identify the connection port  104   a ; the identification symbol  108   b  is used to identify the connection port  104   b ; the identification symbol  108   c  is used to identify the connection port  104   c . The identification symbols are not limited to those patterns illustrated in the drawings, and may include any customized identification symbol. When the light sources  107  within the main portion  102  emit light through or illuminate the identification symbols  108 , the patterns  118  of the identification symbols  108  are projected onto the surface  110 . Users may locate either one of the patterns  118  first and then locate a corresponding one of the connection ports  104  on the lateral surface  102   b . This way for locating a connection port is preferably used in but not limited to a dim environment. It should be noted that the light sources  107  within the main portion  102  should emit light beams, which form an included angle, i.e. 45 degrees, between the surface  110  and the light beams. The included angle may vary according to another included angle between the surface  110  and the lateral surface  102   b . For instance, the included angle between the surface  110  and the lateral surface  102   b  is 45 degrees; the light sources  107  may be positioned close to the lateral surface  102   b . Above all, in case the patterns  118  of the identification symbols  108  can be readily visible on the surface  110 , any included angle or light source arrangement should be suitable. 
     The lateral surface  102   b  of the main portion  102  may be designed by two ways. The first way is to have the lateral surface  102   b  made of opaque materials and have the identification symbols  108  made of transparent materials or be empty or hollow patterns. When the light sources  107  within the main portion  102  emit light through or illuminate the identification symbols  108 , the patterns  118  on the surface  110  would be identification symbols (same shape as the identification symbols  108 ) in relatively bright and surrounded by a relatively dark area. The other way is to have lateral surface  102   b  made of transparent materials and have the identification symbols  108  made of opaque materials. When the light sources  107  within the main portion  102  emit light through or illuminate the identification symbols  108 , the patterns  118  on the surface  110  would be identification symbols (same shape as the identification symbols  108 ) in relatively dark and surrounded by a relatively bright area. 
     In this embodiment, the top surface  102   a  of the main portion  102  has a switch button  114 , to be pushed by users, for selectively turning on or off the light sources  107  within the main portion  102 . When the light sources  107  are turned on, the patterns  118  of the identification symbols would be projected on the surface  110  and the connection ports  104  on the lateral surface  102   b  are thence located readily. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a top view of the electronic device as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The identification symbols may be alternately or optionally designed on the top surface  102   a  of the main portion  102 , i.e. the identification symbols may be designed on the top surface  102   a  or the lateral surface  102   b ; or the identification symbols may be designed both on the top surface  102   a  and the lateral surface  102   b . There are two ways to design the identification symbols  109  on the top surface  102   a  of the main portion  102 . The first way is to the identification symbols printed on the opaque top surface  102   a , users can recognize or locate the identification symbols  109  merely under an environment with adequate light, rather than under a dim environment. The other way is to have the top surface  102   a  made of opaque materials and have the identification symbols  109  made of transparent materials or be empty or hollow patterns. When the light sources  107  are turned on within the main portion  102 , the identification symbols  109  would be illuminated under a dim environment. In such case, users can locate the connection port on the lateral surface  102   b  either by the illuminated identification symbols  109  or by the projected patterns  118  on the surface  110  (referring to  FIG. 3 ) under a dim environment. 
     In this embodiment, the electronic device  100  is a notebook computer, but can also be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a desktop computer or a tablet computer. The identification symbols are not limited to those patterns illustrated in the drawings, and may include any customized identification symbol. 
     According to discussed embodiments, the present invention provides a way or mechanism for a user to locate a connection port on a lateral surface of an electronic device by a corresponding illuminated identification symbol on a top surface or a corresponding projected pattern of the identification symbol on the surface under a dim environment. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.