Patent Publication Number: US-2021165463-A1

Title: Electronic device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/427,268, filed on May 30, 2019, which claims the benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 107118663, filed on May 31, 2018. The entirety of each of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The disclosure is related to an electronic device, and particularly to an electronic device having a special design. 
     Description of Related Art 
     Current electronic products such as notebook computer, table PC or smart phone are rapidly developed with new styles. Not only the specification of software and hardware are improved, but also the appearance design of product has received more attention. Therefore, related manufacturers are making more efforts to change the appearance of product in order to bring new visual experiences to users or consumers. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disclosure provides an electronic device having a special design. 
     The electronic device of the disclosure includes a casing, a driven component, a magnetic component and an electromagnetic component. The casing has an outer surface, an inner surface opposite to the outer surface and an accommodating groove penetrating through the outer surface and the inner surface. The driven component is movably disposed in the accommodating groove. The magnetic component is connected to the driven component. The electromagnetic component is aligned with the magnetic component, and the magnetic component and the electromagnetic component are disposed on the same side of the inner surface. When the electromagnetic component is not powered, the magnetic component and the electromagnetic component are attracted to each other, and the driven component is positioned at a first position. When the electromagnetic component is powered, the magnetic component and the electromagnetic component are repulsed to each other, thereby driving the driven component to move from the first position to a second position. 
     According to the disclosure, the electronic device includes a first body and a second body pivoted to each other. The second body includes a casing, a driven component, a magnetic component and an electromagnetic component. The casing has an outer surface, an inner surface opposite to the outer surface and an accommodating groove penetrating through the outer surface and the inner surface. The driven component is movably disposed in the accommodating groove. The magnetic component is connected to the driven component. The electromagnetic component is aligned with the magnetic component, and the magnetic component and the electromagnetic component are disposed on the same side of the inner surface. When the second body is closed on the first body, the electromagnetic component is not powered, the magnetic component and the electromagnetic component are attracted to each other, and the driving component is positioned at a first position. When the second body is opened relative to the first body, the electromagnetic component is powered, the magnetic component and the electromagnetic component are repulsed to each other, thereby driving the driven component to move from the first position to a second position. 
     Based on the above, the electronic device of the disclosure can change the position of the driven component through attractive force or repulsive force, wherein the appearance surface of the driven component exposed outside the casing (or referred to as exposed outside the accommodating groove) may have a logo, a symbol or text to bring a different visual experience to the user or have an appearance design that makes the product stand out. 
     In order to make the aforementioned features and advantages of the disclosure more comprehensible, embodiments accompanying figures are described in detail below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present 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. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a partial schematic top view of a second body of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the second body in  FIG. 2  taken along line A-A. 
         FIG. 4  is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the second body in  FIG. 2  taken along line B-B. 
         FIG. 5  is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of an electromagnetic component being powered in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the electromagnetic component being powered in  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG. 2  is a partial schematic top view of a second body of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the second body in  FIG. 2  taken along line A-A.  FIG. 4  is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the second body in  FIG. 2  taken along line B-B. Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 , in the embodiment, an electronic device  100  may be a notebook computer, or a combination of a tablet PC and a docking station, and the electronic device  100  includes a first body  110  and a second body  120  pivoted to each other. 
     The second body  120  includes a casing  121 , a driven component  122 , a magnetic component  123  and an electromagnetic component  124 , wherein the driven component  122 , the magnetic component  123  and the electromagnetic component  124  are disposed in the casing  121 , and a portion of the driven component  122  is exposed outside the casing  121 . Furthermore, the casing  121  has an outer surface  121   a , an inner surface  121   b  and an accommodating groove  121   c , wherein the outer surface  121   a  and the inner surface  121   b  are opposite to each other, and the accommodating groove  121   c  penetrates through the outer surface  121   a  and the inner surface  121   b . The driven component  122  is disposed in the accommodating groove  121   c , and is moveable reciprocately relative to the casing  121  along a direction D perpendicular to the outer surface  121   a  of the casing  121 . The appearance surface of the driven component  122  exposed outside the casing  121  (or referred to as exposed outside the accommodating groove  121   c ) may have a logo, a symbol or text to bring a different visual experience to the user or have an appearance design that makes the product stand out. On the other hand, the outer contour of the driven component  122  and the inner contour of the accommodating groove  121   c  are complementary to each other, and a cross-sectional area of the driven component  122  parallel with the outer surface  121   a  of the casing  121  is slightly smaller than a cross-sectional area of the accommodating groove  121   c  parallel with the outer surface  121   a  of the casing  121 . 
     In the embodiment, the magnetic component  123  is connected to another side of the driven component  122  facing away from the appearance surface  122   a , wherein the electromagnetic component  124  is aligned with the magnetic component  123 , and magnetic component  123  and the electromagnetic component  124  are located on the same side of the inner surface  121   b  of the casing  121 . Specifically, the electromagnetic component  124  may be completely or partially overlapped with the magnetic component  123  in the direction perpendicular to the outer surface  121   a  of the casing  121 . In the condition where the electromagnetic component  124  is not powered, the electromagnetic component  124  and the magnetic component  123  are attracted to each other, with the attractive force between the electromagnetic component  124  and the magnetic component  123 , the driven component  122  can be positioned at a first position shown in  FIG. 3 . At this time, the appearance surface  122   a  of the driven component  122  is, for example, slightly lower than the outer surface  121   a  of the casing  121 , or coplanar with the outer surface  121   a  of the casing  121 . 
       FIG. 5  is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of an electromagnetic component being powered in  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 6  is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the electromagnetic component being powered in  FIG. 4 . Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 6 , take a notebook computer or a combination of tablet PC and docking station as an example, when the second body  120  is closed on the first body  110 , a controller (not shown) does not control a power module (not shown) to supply current to the electromagnetic component  124 . When the second body  120  is opened relative to the first body  110 , the controller (not shown) receives a triggering signal, thereby controlling the power module (not shown) to supply current to the electromagnetic component  124 . In the condition where the electromagnetic component  124  is powered, the electromagnetic component  124  and the magnetic component  123  are repulsed to each other, with the repulsive force between the electromagnetic component  124  and the magnetic component  123 , the driven component  122  is driven to move from the first position shown in  FIG. 3  to a second position shown in  FIG. 5  along the direction D. After the driven component  122  is moved to the second position as shown in  FIG. 5 , the appearance surface  122   a  of the driven component  122  exceeds the outer surface  121   a  of the casing  121  such that the partial appearance of the product creates a stereoscopic impression. 
     In the embodiment, the electronic device  100  may sense a state switch between the first body  110  and the second body  120  through a gravity sensor (not shown) disposed on the second body  120 , cooperation between a hall sensor (not shown) disposed on one of the first body  110  and the second body  120  and a magnet (not shown) disposed on the other one of the first body  110  and the second body  120 , an angle sensor (not shown) disposed on a hinge  101  pivoted to the first body  110  and the second body  120 , cooperation between a magnetic reed switch (not shown) disposed on one of the first body  110  and the second body  120  and a magnet (not shown) disposed on the other one of the first body  110  and the second body  120  or an embedded software, for example, to sense the opening action of the second body  120  relative to the first body  110  and transmit a triggering signal to the controller (not shown), thereby controlling the power module (not shown) to supply current to the electromagnetic component  124 . On the contrary, if the second body  120  is closed on the first body  110 , the power module stops supplying the current to the electromagnetic component  124 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 6 , the second body  120  further includes a carrier  125  disposed corresponding to the accommodating groove  121   c  and connected to another side of the driven component  122  facing away from the appearance surface  122   a . The carrier  125 , the magnetic component  123  and the electromagnetic component  124  are disposed in the casing  121  and located on the same side of the inner surface  121   b  of the casing  121 . In the embodiment, the magnetic component  123  is not directly connected to the driven component  122  but connected to the driven component  122  through the carrier  125 . The carrier  125  is configured to carry the driven component  122 , and the cross-sectional area of the carrier  125  parallel with the outer surface  121   a  of the casing  121  is larger than the cross-sectional area of the accommodating groove  121   c  parallel with the outer surface  121   a  of the casing  121 ; with such design, it can be prevented that the driven component  122  falls out of the casing  121 . 
     On the other hand, the second body  120  further includes at least one elastic component  126  disposed between the carrier  125  and the inner surface  121   b  of the casing  121 . The elastic component  126  is, for example, a compressed spring. When the electromagnetic component  124  is powered, the magnetic component  123  and the electromagnetic component  124  are repulsed to each other, with the repulsive force between the electromagnetic component  124  and the magnetic component  123 , the driven component  122  can be driven to move from the first position shown in  FIG. 3  to the second position shown in  FIG. 5 , and the carrier  125  is moved toward the inner surface  121   b  of the casing  121  along with the driven component  122  and compresses the elastic component  126 . On the contrary, if the electromagnetic component  124  is not powered, the repulsive force between the electromagnetic component  124  and the magnetic component  123  is removed. At this time, the elastic restoring force of the elastic component  126  may drive the carrier  125  to move in a direction away from the inner surface  121   b  of the casing  121 , and the driven component  122  is moved along with the carrier  125  to return to the first position shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     In the embodiment, the casing  121  further has at least one first positioning portion  121   d  located on the inner surface  121   b , and the carrier  125  has at least one second positioning portion  125   a  facing the inner surface  121   b . The first positioning portion  121   d  is aligned with the second positioning portion  125   a , wherein the first positioning portion  121   d  and the second positioning portion  125   a  may be a combination of a pillar and a recess, and are respectively configured to position the elastic component  126 . For example, the pillar may pass through the elastic component  126 , and a portion of the elastic component  126  may be disposed in the recess. 
     On the other hand, the second body  120  further includes a bracket  127  which has at least one fixing portion  127   a  and a cantilever portion  127   b  connected to the fixing portion  127   a , wherein the fixing portion  127   a  is connected to the inner surface  121   b  of the casing  121 , and the elastic component  126  and the cantilever portion  127   b  are respectively located at two opposite sides of the carrier  125 . The cantilever portion  127   b  is, for example, across one side of the carrier  125 , wherein the electromagnetic component  124  is connected to the cantilever portion  127   b , and the magnetic component  123  and the electromagnetic component  124  are respectively located at two opposite sides of the cantilever portion  127   b . Specifically, the bracket  127  is configured to carry the electromagnetic component  124  and capable of limiting movement of the carrier  125  from moving in the direction away from the inner surface  121   b  of the casing  121 . 
     In summary of the above, the electronic device of the disclosure can change the position of the driven component through attractive force or repulsive force, wherein the appearance surface of the driven component exposed outside the casing (or referred to as exposed outside the accommodating groove) may have a logo, a symbol or text to bring a different visual experience to the user or have an appearance design that makes the product stand out. Specifically, in the condition where the electromagnetic component is powered, the electromagnetic component and the magnetic component are repulsed to each other, with the repulsive force between the electromagnetic component and magnetic component, the driven component can be driven to move from the first position to the second position. After the driven component is moved to the second position, the appearance surface of the driven component exceeds the outer surface of the casing such that the partial appearance of the product creates a stereoscopic impression. 
     Although the disclosure has been disclosed by the above embodiments, the embodiments are not intended to limit the disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. Therefore, the protecting range of the disclosure falls in the appended claims.