Patent Publication Number: US-2007114353-A1

Title: Supporting structure and supporting mechanism for backlight module

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Taiwan Application Serial No. 094130527, filed Sep. 6, 2005, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
     BACKGROUND  
      The invention relates to a supporting structure and a supporting mechanism for a backlight module.  
      Typically, two materials are connected in an edge-to-edge manner (named “butt-connection”, wherein the two materials generally have the same thickness). However the relationship between thickness of materials and supporting force that an article needs in practice is not considered. For example, the supporting mechanism of a backlight module includes two pairs of metal bars wherein one pair differs from the other pair in length. All of the metal bars are of the same thickness and butt-connected to constitute the supporting mechanism. The longer metal bars of the supporting mechanism are required to provide greater supporting force for supporting the backlight module than the shorter metal bars. Therefore, forming the supporting mechanism by metal bars of the same thickness not only wastes material but increases the manufacturing cost and the weight of the backlight module.  
     SUMMARY  
      The invention provides a supporting structure and a supporting mechanism for a backlight module. The supporting mechanism for a backlight module comprises a first member, a second member, and a connector. The first member has an initial thickness and at least a fixing portion. The fixing portion provides the supporting mechanism to connect to the backlight module. The second member has an initial thickness. The initial thickness of the first member is greater than the initial thickness of the second member, and the length of the first member is greater than the length of the second member. The connector is located between the first member and second member to form butt connection therebetween. The connector may be a welding material or glue.  
      In another embodiment, a material is cut into a single member. The single member is a combination of the first and second members. The single member is an L shape or is approximately an L shape. The first member, the second member and the connector are formed as a single, unitary member. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description in conjunction with the examples and references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing of a backlight module of the invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a partial enlarged drawing of  FIG. 1 .  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a supporting mechanism  10  of a backlight module comprises a first member  11  and a second member  12 . In this embodiment, the first member  11  and the second member  12  are metal bars and butt connected forming the supporting mechanism  10 . The first member  11  has an initial thickness D 1  and the second member  12  has an initial thickness D 2 . The first member  11  further comprises fixing portions  111  and  112  to provide the first member  11  to connect to other elements on the backlight module (not shown). Thus, before manufacturing the first member  11 , the initial thickness D 1  is predetermined. After determining the initial thickness D 1 , the size and position of the fixing portions  111  and  112  is defined. The initial thickness D 2  is defined similarly. The second member  12  comprises fixing portions  121  and  122  to provide the second member  12  to connect to other elements on the backlight module (not shown). In this embodiment, fixing portions  111  and  121  are mounting holes for providing openings through which the first and second members  11  and  12  are connected to other elements on the backlight module via screws. The fixing portions  112  and  122  protrude on the first member  11  and second member  12  respectively to connect to other elements on the backlight module. In another embodiment, a material is cut into a single member. The single member is combination of the first and second member  11  and  12 . The single member is an L shape or is approximately an L shape. The first member  11 , the second member  12  and the connector  13  are formed as a single, unitary member.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , the first member  11  is butt connected to the second member  12  via the connector  13 . In this embodiment, the connector  13  may be a welding material or glue. The initial thickness D 1  of the first member  11  is greater than the initial thickness D 2  of the second member  12 . The length L 1  of the first member  11  is greater than the length L 2  of the second member  12 .  
      The initial thickness D 1  and the initial thickness D 2  are defined according to support force that the first member  11  and the second member  12  need. In this embodiment, a backlight module comprises two pairs of sides. One pair of sides are greater than the others. The first member  11  requires greater support force to support the larger sides of a backlight module. Thus, initial thickness D 1  of the first member  11  is greater than the initial thickness D 2  of the second member  12 . Thus, the invention may decrease the cost and weight of a backlight module.  
      The invention can be applied to a supporting structure which comprises a plurality of members butt connected to each other to provide a support force. The member which provides greater support force (usually a longer side in a supporting structure) has greater thickness. The member which provides less support force (usually a shorter side in a supporting structure) has less thickness. The invention decreases cost and weight of a supporting structure.  
      While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.