Patent Publication Number: US-2007119695-A1

Title: Signal switching apparatus for electronic device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates generally to signal switching devices and, more particularly, to a signal switching apparatus for an electronic device.  
      2. Description of Related Art  
      With increasing progress of science and technology, electronic products have been widely used in life, especially various kinds of portable electronic devices such as notebook computers can even satisfy the present requirements of consumers for lightness, thinness, smallness, multi-function, and user-friendliness. Therefore, portable electronic devices stood out from various kinds of electronic products. However, the overall size of an electronic device has become smaller, so the space that can be allocated to an apparatus for controlling signal switching in the electronic device is also constrained. Accordingly, the size of the signal switching apparatus must be shrunk to as small as possible.  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 , a conventional signal switching apparatus of a portable electronic device comprises a switching component  1  provided on the main circuit board in the electronic device, a first member  2  and a second member  3  that are rigidly coupled with each other. The switching component  1  has a control unit  11  for switching on/off status of signals. The first member  2  which is assembled to a casing  4  of the electronic device comprises an operating unit  21  exposed from the electronic device allowing user&#39; operations. The second member  3  is disposed between the first member  2  and the switching component  1 , one end of the second member  3  is fixed with the first member  2 , and the other end is cooperated with the control unit  11  of the switching component  1  for driving the control unit  11 .  
      The above-discussed first member  2  is assembled On the sidewall of the casing  4  of the electronic device, on which a penetrating opening  41  is correspondingly provided. When assembling the first member  2  with the second member  3 , the first member  2  is entered into the electronic device from outside of the sidewall through the opening  41 , and the second member  3  is fixed with the first member  2  at the inside of the sidewall. Since the first member  2  is fixed with the second member  3 , so when the operating unit  21  of the first member  2  is actuated, the first member  2  and the second member  3  move as a whole, and the control unit  11  is correspondingly driven to move by the cooperation of the second member  3  and the switching component  1 , thereby attain the function of signal switch.  
      In this conventional design of signal switching apparatus, the first member  2  is assembled to the sidewall of the electronic device in an outside-to-inside manner, making the area of the operating unit  21  relatively large to facilitate operations of the users, while making the portion of the first member  2  extending to the inside of the electronic device too small to be directly cooperated with the control unit  11  of the switching component  1 . As such, an intermediate component, i.e., the second member  3 , has to be used in order for the first member I to couple to the control unit  11 . Therefore, the necessary components of signal switching apparatus is inevitably increased, which consequently increases the cost of the electronic device. Furthermore, the inner space of the electronic device is limited, and the space occupied by this signal switching apparatus is relatively large, which must directly affect the freedom of inner layout design of the electronic device, making it difficult to adapt to miniaturization of the electronic devices.  
      Accordingly, there exists a strong need to solve the drawbacks of the conventional signal switching apparatus, such as. complex structure, high cost and difficulties in inner design of the electronic device and in miniaturization.  
     SUMMARY OF TE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to solve the aforementioned drawbacks of the conventional technology by providing a signal switching apparatus with simple structure for an electronic device.  
      It is another objective of the present invention to provide a signal switching apparatus for an electronic device which increases the freedom of layout design in the electronic device.  
      It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a signal switching apparatus for an electronic device that allows the size of the electronic device to be reduced.  
      In order to attain the abovementioned and other objectives, a signal switching apparatus for electronic device is provided according to the present invention, which comprises: a switching component and an operating component, the switching component is provided in the electronic device, and has a control unit for switching the condition of a signal; the operating component has an operating unit exposed from the electronic device and a connecting unit extending to the inside of the electronic device and coupled to the control unit.  
      The connecting unit of the aforementioned operating component extends from the operating unit to one side of the switching component, the operating component has a connecting unit for cooperating with the switching component of the electronic device and an operating unit exposed from the electronic device for user operation. The operating unit further includes maintaining structures for allowing the operating component to freely slide on the electronic device. The connecting unit is a pair of rectangular blocks, and a compartment is disposed between the pair of the rectangular blocks for receiving the control unit. The connecting unit further includes strengthening structures, wherein the strengthening structures are a pair of triangular blocks respectively abutting against the corresponding rectangular blocks.  
      The signal switching apparatus for an electronic device according to the present invention comprises the switching component and the operating component, when compared with the conventional technology, the present invention has less components, simpler structure, reduced cost, and higher inner layout design and smaller size of the electronic device.  
      The following illustrative embodiments are provided to illustrate the disclosure of the present invention, these and other advantages and effects can be apparently understood by those in the art after reading the disclosure of this specification. The present invention can also be performed or applied by other different embodiments. The details of the specification may be on the basis of different points and applications, and numerous modifications and variations can be devised without departing from the spirit of the present invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  depicts a stereogram of a signal switching apparatus for a conventional electronic device.  
       FIG. 2  depicts a stereogram of a signal switching apparatus for an electronic device according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  depicts a stereogram of the signal switching apparatus for an electronic device according to the present invention from another angle. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      With reference to  FIG. 2 , the signal switching apparatus according to the present invention can be provided at a side of the electronic device, wherein a notebook computer is used an example of an electronic device, but it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can also be applied in other electronic devices, so it is not limited to this. In addition, in order to. facilitate a better understanding of description, only those of the electronic. device pertained to the present invention in the following embodiment will be illustrated.  
      Referring to  FIG. 2  in conjunction with  FIG. 3 , the signal switching apparatus for electronic device according to the present invention comprises a switching component  5  and an operating component  6 .  
      The switching component  5  is provided inside the electronic device, and comprises a control unit  51  protruding from a side surface of the switching component  5 . The control unit  51  is a rectangular block that can be moved -between a first position and a second position of the switching component  5  to switch the on/off condition of signals. The first position and the second position of the switching component are conventional features, so they will not be described in detail.  
      The operating component  6  comprises an operating unit  61  and a connecting unit  62 . The operating unit  61  is exposed from the electronic device to allow the users to control (i.e. switch) the on/off condition of signals, and further includes maintaining structure  611  for maintaining the operating component  6  to freely slide on the electronic device. The connecting unit  62  extending from the maintaining structure  611  to one side of the switching component  5  is composed of a pair of rectangular blocks. Between the pair of rectangular blocks is a compartment  622 , the size of the compartment  622  is substantially equal to the size of the control unit  51  for receiving the compartment  622  therein, thereby coupling the operating component  6  with the switching component  5 . In addition, the connecting unit  62  further includes strengthening structures  622 , the strengthening structures  622  are a pair of triangular blocks abutting against the corresponding connecting units  62  for strengthening geometric stability of the connecting units  62  and assuring the efficiency of the overall signal switching apparatus during operations by the users.  
      The aforementioned operating component cooperates with the control unit protruding from one side of the switching component via the connecting unit having the compartment. It should be noted that, if the connecting unit is a single block rather than two separate rectangular blocks, and the block has an opening with a size equal to that of the control unit to fully receive the control unit, it is still feasible to cooperate the operating component to the control unit. Furthermore, the cooperation between the aforementioned switching component and operating component is illustrated through inserting the control unit into the compartment of the connecting unit. Alternatively, the cooperation between the control unit and the connecting unit can be achieved by clasping. It is apparent that the cooperation of the switching component and the operating component is not limited to the above-discussed structures.  
      With additional reference to  FIG. 3 , the switching component  5  is fixed on the main circuit board  7  of the electronic device. The side of the main circuit board  7  dents inwards to form an active region  7 . The control unit  51  of the switching component  5  extends into the active region  71 .  
      The operating component  6  is assembled to the casing of the electronic device. The casing includes a base  81  and a sidewall  82 . The sidewall  82  provides a penetrating opening  83 . In addition, at least a pair of stoppers  84  is extended upwards from the base  81  to limit the moving range of the operating component  6 .  
      When connecting the operating component  6  to the switching component  5 , the operating component  6  can be aimed at the opening  83  of the sidewall  82  and assembled to the casing in a inside-to-outside manner, so as to cause the operating unit  61  of the operating component  6  to be exposed from the opening  83  for operating. The maintaining structure  611  is housed between the main circuit board  7  and the sidewall  82  to allow the operating component  6  to freely slide on the electronic device. The connecting unit  62  enters into the active region  71  and connects to the control unit  52  of the switching component  5 . Accordingly, assembly of the signal switching apparatus can be completed. At this point, actuating the operating unit  61  of the operating component  6  would make the connecting unit  62  drive the control unit  51  to move between the first position and the second position of the switching component  5 , so as to switch on/off the signals.  
      As described above, the signal switching apparatus for electronic device according to the present invention comprises a switching component and an operating component. In comparison to the conventional technology, the intermediate second member is eliminated, cost can be relatively reduced, the freedom of layout design in the electronic device can be increased, and size of the electronic device to which the signal switching apparatus is applied can also be reduced. Therefore, the signal switching apparatus for an electronic device according to the present invention can satisfy the consumer&#39;s pursuit of the trend such as lightness, thinness and shortness, and has improved effects and high industrial applicability.  
      The above-descried descriptions of the detailed embodiments are only illustrated to disclose the features and functions of the present invention and not restrictive of the scope of the present invention. It should be understood to those in the art that all modifications and variations according to the spirit and principle in the disclosure of the present invention should fall within the scope of the appended claims.