Abstract:
A coupling structure includes a hook bar and a force receiving member adopted for use on an electronic device that has a folding member such as a notebook computer that consists of an upper lid and a base. The folding member is the upper lid. The force receiving member and the hook bar have respectively a portion exposed from two neighboring sides of the upper lid, and are coupled by a turning mechanism. When the force receiving member is depressed, it is moved longitudinally towards the upper lid. The turning mechanism transfers the force to push the hook bar moving transversely so that the latch tenons on the hook bar may escape the latch holes on the base to control the coupling condition.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a coupling structure adopted for use on electronic devices that have a folding member and particularly to a coupling structure that controls the coupling condition of the folding member by depressing.  
         [0003]     Conventional electronic devices that have a folding member such as notebook computers generally include an upper lid and a base. And a coupling structure is used to anchor the folding member. The coupling structures usually can be divided into a transverse push latch structure and a depressing latch structure.  
         [0004]     Refer to  FIG. 1  for a conventional transverse latch structure. It mainly includes a hook bar A 1  fastening to a force receiving member A 2  that are located in an upper lid A 3 . The hook bar A 1  is housed in a transverse trough A 31  formed in the upper lid A 3  and may be moved reciprocally therein. When the upper lid A 3  is folding over a base A 4 , the latch tenon A 12  located at the bottom of the hook bar A 1  is latched in a latch hole A 41  of the base A 4 . And an elastic element A 34  will push the latch tenon A 12  to maintain a coupling condition with the latch hole A 41 . To open the upper lid A 3 , move the force receiving member A 2  transversely to push the hook bar A 1 , the latch tenon A 12  will escape the latch hole A 41  to release the coupling condition between the latch tenon A 12  and the latch hole A 41 .  
         [0005]     Another type of the conventional coupling structure is the depressing latch structure (not shown in the drawings). It mainly includes a latch hook fastening to a force receiving member, and are located in a trough in the upper lid and movable therein longitudinally. When the upper lid is folding over the base, an elastic element will keep the latch hook on a position where a latch tenon is located to latch in a corresponding latch hole formed in the base. To open the upper lid, directly depress the force receiving member with a longitudinal force to push the latch hook, the latch tenon will be moved away from the latch hole, and the coupling condition will be released.  
         [0006]     In the transverse latch structure mentioned above the force receiving member receives a transverse force which is in a different direction against the opening direction of the upper lid, operation is not convenient. Moreover, the surface of the force receiving member should have slip-proof traces. This creates appearance and fabrication problems. On the other hand, the depressing latch structure should has a longitudinal force applying on the force receiving member so that it can be moved away from the latch hole of the base in the longitudinal direction along the upper lid. Such a latch structure takes more longitudinal space of the upper lid and affects the installation of LCD panel or increases the dimension of the upper lid. The present invention aims to overcome the problems occurred to the conventional coupling structures set forth above.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The primary object of the invention is to resolve aforesaid disadvantages. The invention mainly includes a hook bar and a force receiving member. The electronic device with a folding member includes an upper lid and a base. The hook bar and the force receiving member are located in a trough formed in the upper lid. The hook bar and the force receiving member are coupled by a turning mechanism. When the force receiving member is depressed by an external force, it is moved in the longitudinal direction towards the upper lid. But the hook bar may be pushed transversely through the turning mechanism to enable the latch tenon to escape the latch hole of the base to release the coupling.  
         [0008]     By means of coupling structure of the invention, the following functions and effects may be achieved:  
         [0009]     1. The coupling structure of the invention has a turning mechanism that can alter force applying direction to enable the hook bar to generate a transverse movement through the compression type force receiving member.  
         [0010]     2. The coupling structure of the invention adopts depressing approach to apply force. Its operation is more convenient. It does no need a slip-proof surface on the force receiving member. Thus it can reduce fabrication complexity of the elements.  
         [0011]     3. The coupling structure of the invention requires a smaller depth in the upper lid for installation. It does not affect the installation of LCD panel, and can reduce the dimension of the upper lid.  
         [0012]     The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a conventional coupling structure.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the coupling structure of invention with an upper lid matching a base.  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 4A  is a top view according to  FIG. 4 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 4B  is a top view according to  FIG. 4A  after moved.  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is an exploded view of another embodiment of the invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 6A  is a top view according to  FIG. 6 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 6B  is a top view according to  FIG. 6A  after moved. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0021]     Refer to  FIGS. 2, 3 ,  4 A and  4 B for an embodiment of the coupling structure of the invention that is adopted for use on an electronic device which has a folding member. The invention mainly includes a hook bar  1  and a force receiving member  2 . The hook bar  1  and the force receiving member  2  are coupled by a turning mechanism. The turning mechanism includes a compression section  22  and a driven section  11 . The electronic device with a folding member such as a notebook computer includes an upper lid  3  and a base  4 . The hook bar  1  and the force receiving member  2  are located respectively in a first trough  31  and a second trough  32  formed in the upper lid  3 , and mate the base  4  so that the upper lid  3  may be latched and coupled on the base  4 .  
         [0022]     The hook bar  1  is a rod which has a top side extending upwards to form the driven section  11  of the turning mechanism. The driven section  11  is a strut. The hook bar  1  has a bottom side extending downwards to form two latch tenons  12 .  
         [0023]     The force receiving member  2  is a plate  21  extending vertically rewards. The plate  21  contains the compression section  22  which is a slot running through the plate. The compression section  22  is an elongated slot extending in a biased angle relative to the extending direction of the plate  21 . The size of the compression section  22  mates the driven section  11  of the hook bar  1  that may be wedged in the slot.  
         [0024]     The upper lid  3  is a panel pivotally coupled on one side of the base  4 . The first trough  31  and the second trough  32  are formed on one side of the upper lid  3 . The first trough  31  is in parallel with one side of the upper lid  3  for housing the hook bar  1  and confines the hook bar  1  to move therein. The second trough  32  is normal to the first trough  31  and runs trough outwards to house the force receiving member  2  and confines the force receiving member  2  to move therein. The first trough  31  has a bottom forming two apertures  33  running through the upper lid  3  and corresponding to the two latch tenons  12  of the hook bar  1 . The first trough  31  has one end coupling with an elastic element  34  which provides the hook bar  1  a transverse elastic returning force.  
         [0025]     The base  4  has two latch holes  41  corresponding to the apertures  33  of the upper lid  3 . Each latch hole  41  mates the latch tenon  12  for coupling with each other.  
         [0026]     In this embodiment. The hook bar  1  is movably located in the first trough  31  of the upper lid  3 . The latch tenon  12  runs through the aperture  33  of the upper lid  3 . The elastic element  34  provides a transverse returning elastic force to the hook bar  1 . The force receiving member  2  is located in the second trough  32  of the upper lid  3 . The compression section  22  of the plate  21  is coupled with the driven section  11  of the hook bar  1  and confined in second trough  32  of the upper lid  3 .  
         [0027]     When the upper lid  3  is folded and closed over the base  4 , the elastic element  34  provides an elastic force to keep the hook bar  1  at a selected position so that the latch tenon  12  is latched in the latch hole  41  of the base  4 . To open the upper lid  3 , depress the force receiving member  2  to move the plate  21  forwards along the second trough  32 . As the compression section  22  is a biased slot formed in the forward direction of the second trough  32 , the longitudinal force applied on the force receiving member  2  is transformed to a transverse force pushing the hook bar  1  and driving the driven section  11  of the hook bar  1 . Therefore the hook bar  1  is driven to move along the first trough  31  to allow the latch tenon  12  to escape the latch hole  41  of the base  4  to release the coupling condition.  
         [0028]     Refer to  FIGS. 5, 6A  and  6 B for another embodiment of the invention. It mainly includes a hook bar  1  and a force receiving member  2 . The hook bar  1  and the force receiving member  2  are coupled by a turning mechanism. The turning mechanism includes a compression section  22  and a driven section  11 . The electronic device with a folding member such as a notebook computer includes an upper lid  3  and a base  4 . The hook bar  1  and the force receiving member  2  are located respectively in a first trough  31  and a second trough  32  formed in the upper lid  3 , and mate the base  4  so that the upper lid  3  may be latched and coupled on the base  4 .  
         [0029]     The hook bar  1  is a rod which has a top side forming an indented trough  13  and a bottom side extending downwards to form two latch tenons  12 . The indented trough  13  has one side forming a driven section  11  which is an arched lug extending outwards.  
         [0030]     The force receiving member  2  is a plate  21  extending vertically rewards. The plate  21  contains the compression section  22  which is a sloped surface. The compression section  22  mates the driven section  11  of the indented trough  13  of the hook bar  1 . The width of the indented trough  13  also matches the maximum width of the plate  21 .  
         [0031]     The upper lid  3  is a panel pivotally coupled on one side of the base  4 . The first trough  31  and the second trough  32  are formed on one side of the upper lid  3 . The first trough  31  is in parallel with one side of the upper lid  3  for housing the hook bar  1  and confines the hook bar  1  to move therein. The second trough  32  is normal to the first trough  31  and runs trough outwards to house the force receiving member  2  and confines the force receiving member  2  to move therein. The first trough  31  has a bottom forming two apertures  33  running through the upper lid  3  and corresponding to the two latch tenons  12  of the hook bar  1 . The first trough  31  has one end coupling with an elastic element  34  which provides the hook bar  1  a transverse elastic returning force.  
         [0032]     The base  4  has two latch holes  41  corresponding to the apertures  33  of the upper lid  3 . Each latch hole  41  mates the latch tenon  12  for coupling with each other.  
         [0033]     In this embodiment. The hook bar  1  is movably located in the first trough  31  of the upper lid  3 . The latch tenon  12  runs through the aperture  33  of the upper lid  3 . The elastic element  34  provides a transverse returning elastic force to the hook bar  1 . The force receiving member  2  is located in the second trough  32  of the upper lid  3 . The compression section  22  of the plate  21  is in contact with the driven section  11  of the hook bar  1  and confined in the second trough  32  of the upper lid  3 .  
         [0034]     When the upper lid  3  is folded and closed over the base  4 , the elastic element  34  provides an elastic force to keep the hook bar  1  at a selected position so that the latch tenon  12  is latched in the corresponding latch hole  41  of the base  4 . To open the upper lid  3 , depress the force receiving member  2  to move the plate  21  forwards along the second trough  32 . As the compression section  22  is a biased towards the forward direction of the second trough  32 , the driven section  11  of the hook bar  1  will be driven. Therefore the hook bar  1  is moved along the first trough  31  to allow the latch tenon  12  to escape the latch hole  41  of the base  4  to release the coupling condition.  
         [0035]     The upper lid  3  and the base  4  form the main body of a notebook computer. LCD panel is installed on the upper lid  3 , while the base  4  forms the case of the computer host.  
         [0036]     While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.