Patent Publication Number: US-2011075338-A1

Title: Computer

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 098132458 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Sep. 25, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a computer and, more particularly, to a computer with a waterproof card reader. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     There are a plurality of kinds of integrated circuit (IC) cards, and a smart card is one kind of the integrated circuit cards. The smart card can allow a possessor to perform predetermined operation and can provide calculation, encryption, two-way communication, and safety functions. Thus, besides a data storing function, the smart card can also protect the stored data. A computer, such as a notebook computer, can have a built-in card reader or be externally connected with a card reader to support reading and writing a smart card or other types of the integrated circuit cards. 
     As far as a notebook computer with a built-in card reader is considered, a user can plug a smart card or other types of the integrated circuit cards into the card reader in the notebook computer to read data, and the integrated circuit card plugged into the card reader may be exposed from the notebook computer to facilitate plug and pull. However, as the integrated circuit card is exposed to the outside, the integrated circuit card fails to satisfy waterproof, dustproof, or anti-falling needs. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention provides a computer capable of hiding an integrated circuit card plugged into a built-in card reader and providing waterproof, dustproof, or anti-falling protection for the integrated circuit card. 
     This invention provides a computer including a casing, a carrier, a card reader, and a cover. The casing has a containing space and an opening, and the opening communicates with the containing space. The carrier is located in the containing space and is slidably connected with the casing. The card reader is disposed at the carrier. The cover is pivotally connected with the casing, and the cover has a sealing element for covering and sealing the opening. 
     According to the invention, the card reader is disposed at the carrier, and the carrier can slide relative to the casing. When a user plugs an integrated circuit card into the computer, the carrier can drive the card reader and the integrated circuit card plugged into the card reader to enter into the casing of the computer. The movable cover covers and seals the opening of the casing to provide waterproof, dustproof, or anti-falling protection for the card reader and the integrated circuit card. In addition, the user just needs to allow the carrier to slide out of the casing thus to expose the integrated circuit card plugged into the card reader from the casing, thereby plugging and pulling the integrated circuit card. Thereby, convenience and durability of the integrated circuit card in use can be achieved. 
     These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional diagram showing a computer according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a three-dimensional diagram showing a cover exposing a containing space in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a three-dimensional diagram showing a carrier sliding relative to a casing in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a partial top view showing the computer in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a partial top view showing the carrier sliding relative to the casing in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram showing a card reader and a data access device sharing a connecting interface in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a partial three-dimensional diagram showing the computer in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8  is a partial top view showing a computer according to another embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a partial top view showing a carrier sliding relative to a casing in  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Via a structural design and improvement, a computer in this invention can allow an integrated circuit card to have convenience and durability in use together. The computer can be a notebook computer, a desktop computer, or other electronic devices with a card reader. In the following embodiment, a notebook computer is taken for example. 
       FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional diagram showing a computer according to one embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 2  is a three-dimensional diagram showing a cover exposing a containing space in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  is a three-dimensional diagram showing a carrier sliding relative to a casing in  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in the embodiment, a computer  100  may be a notebook computer and is used for reading an integrated circuit card  50 . The integrated circuit card  50  may be a smart card or other types of cards. 
     The computer  100  includes a casing  110 , a carrier  120 , and a cover  140 . When the carrier  120  is located in the casing  110 , the cover  140  can cover the integrated circuit card  50 . In the embodiment, the carrier  120  in a state as shown in  FIG. 2  can be partly moved from the casing  110  to be in a state as shown in  FIG. 3  thus to facilitate plugging and pulling the integrated circuit card  50 . 
     The cover  140  has a sealing element  142 , and the casing  110  has a protrudent portion  118 . The sealing element  142  is disposed at an edge of a surface  144  of the cover  140  facing the casing  110 . The protrudent portion  118  surrounds an opening  116  and the location of the protrudent portion  118  corresponds to the location of the sealing element  142 . When the cover  140  covers the casing  110  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ), the protrudent portion  118  can be against the sealing element  142  to achieve a waterproof and dustproof effect. The sealing element  142  may be made of rubber, thereby allowing the cover  140  to totally seal a containing space via elastic deformation of the sealing element  142 . 
       FIG. 4  is a partial top view showing the computer in  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 4 , in the embodiment, the computer  100  further includes a card reader  130  disposed at the carrier  120 . The casing  110  has a containing space  112  and an opening  116 , and the opening  116  communicates with the containing space  112 . The carrier  120  is located in the containing space  112  and is slidably connected with the casing  110 . The cover  140  is pivotally connected with the casing  110  and has a sealing element  142  for covering and sealing the opening  116 . 
     In detail, the carrier  120  is slidably disposed in the containing space  112  to slide along a sliding path P relative to the casing  110 . The cover  140  is disposed at the opening  116  to seal or expose the containing space  112 . The card reader  130  is disposed on the carrier  120  and located in the containing space  112 , and the integrated circuit card  50  is suitable for being plugged into the card reader  130 . In  FIG. 4 , when the carrier  120  is located at one end of the sliding path P, the integrated circuit card  50  plugged into the card reader  130  is located in the containing space  112 . At that moment, a user can operate the cover  140  to seal the containing space  112  to protect the integrated circuit card  50  located in the containing space  112 , thereby achieving a waterproof, dustproof, and anti-falling effect. 
       FIG. 5  is a partial top view showing the carrier  120  sliding relative to the casing  110  in  FIG. 1 . When the user is to pull the integrated circuit card  50  from the card reader  130 , the user can first open the cover  140  to expose the containing space  112  and then make the carrier  120  sliding to a position as shown in  FIG. 5  thus to be located at the other end of the sliding path P. At that moment, the user can pull the integrated circuit card  50  from the card reader  130  (the integrated circuit card  50  is pulled out in  FIG. 5 ). In addition, the user can plug the integrated circuit card  50  into the card reader  130  when the carrier  120  is located in a position as shown in  FIG. 5 , and then the user can make the carrier  120  sliding to the position in  FIG. 4  along the sliding path P (that is, the card reader  130  also slides along the sliding path P) and cover the cover  140  to seal the containing space  112 . In  FIG. 4 , the carrier  120  in the embodiment has an integrated circuit card guiding groove  124  (also shown in  FIG. 3 ), and the integrated circuit card guiding groove  124  extends from one end of the card reader  130  towards the opening  116  to the opening  116  for guiding the integrated circuit card  50  in moving towards the casing  110  further to be plugged into the card reader  130 . 
     In the embodiment, the computer  100  further includes a push-push mechanism  150  (two push-push mechanisms are shown) disposed in the containing space  112  and connected between the carrier  120  and the casing  110  to drive the carrier  120  to slide along the sliding path P. In detail, the push-push mechanisms  150  and the carrier  120  can form interference to allow the carrier  120  to be fastened to the position in  FIG. 4  thus to be located in the containing space  112 . The user can push the carrier  120  to press the push-push mechanisms  150  thus to drive the push-push mechanisms  150  to release the carrier  120  and to exert push force on the carrier  120 , thereby allowing the carrier  120  to be flipped from the containing space  112  to the position as shown in  FIG. 5  along the sliding path P to partly move out of the containing space  112 . 
     In addition, the user can push the carrier  120  in  FIG. 5  into the containing space  112  along the sliding path P to press the push-push mechanisms  150 , thus allowing the push-push mechanisms  150  and the carrier  120  to form interference to fasten the carrier  120  to the position as shown in  FIG. 4 . In the embodiment, the computer  100  further includes a fastening element  160  (two fastening elements are shown) for fastening the push-push mechanisms  150  to the casing  110 . 
     In the embodiment, the carrier  120  has a plurality of sliding grooves  122  (four sliding grooves are shown), and the casing  110  has a plurality of guiding pins  114  (four guiding pins are shown). The sliding grooves  122  extend along the sliding path P, and the guiding pins  114  are located in the sliding grooves  122 , respectively, to allow the carrier  120  to be slidably disposed at the casing  110 . The carrier  120  can slide relative to the casing  110  via the relative displacement between the guiding pins  114  and the sliding grooves  122  along the sliding path P. 
     In  FIG. 2 , in the embodiment, the computer  100  further includes a data access device  170 . The data access device  170  is stacked on the carrier  120  and disposed in the containing space  112  together with the carrier  120 , and the opening  116  exposes the carrier  120  and the data access device  170 . 
       FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram showing the card reader  130  and the data access device  170  sharing a connecting interface in  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 6 , in the embodiment, the computer  100  further includes a connecting interface  180 . The data access device  170  and the card reader  130  disposed on the carrier  120  share the connecting interface  180  to be electrically connected with a motherboard (not shown) of the computer  100 . 
     In detail, the data access device  170  is connected with the connecting interface  180  via a flexible printed circuit (FPC)  70 . The card reader  130  is connected with a connecting terminal  62  of a daughter board  60 , and a connecting terminal  64  of the daughter board  60  is connected with the connecting interface  180  via the flexible printed circuit  70 , thus allowing the data access device  170  and the card reader  130  to share the connecting interface  180 . 
     In other words, the card reader  130  can be designed to share the containing space  112 , the connecting interface  180 , and the cover  140  with the data access device  170  to save the disposition space of the computer  100 . In the embodiment, the data access device  170  may be an optical disc drive or other data access devices disposed in a notebook computer.  FIG. 7  is a partial three-dimensional diagram showing the computer in  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 7 , in the embodiment, the data access device  170  and the card reader  130  can be covered by an internal casing  80  of the casing  110  (as shown in  FIG. 4 ), and the connecting interface  180  is exposed from the internal casing  80  to be electrically connected with the motherboard of the computer  100 . 
       FIG. 8  is a partial top view showing a computer according to another embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 9  is a partial top view showing a carrier sliding relative to a casing in  FIG. 8 . In  FIG. 8 , compared with the carrier  120  in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5  which slides relative to the casing  110  via the drive of the push-push mechanisms  150 , in this embodiment, a carrier  220  slides relative to a casing  210  via drive of a string  290 . In detail, the string  290  is slidably disposed at the carrier  220  and is located at one side of the carrier  220  towards an opening  216 . When the carrier  220  is located in a containing space  212  and a cover  240  is covered, the string  290  is located in the containing space  212 . In  FIG. 9 , after the user opens the cover  240  and pulls the string  290  from the carrier  220 , he or she continuously pulls the string  290  along a direction D to drive the carrier  220  to partly move out of the containing space  212 , thereby facilitating plugging or pulling an integrated circuit card  50  from a card reader  230  by the user (the integrated circuit card  50  is pulled out as shown in  FIG. 9 ). 
     To sum up, according to the embodiments of the invention, the card reader is disposed on the carrier, and the carrier can slide relative to the casing. When the user plugs the integrated circuit card into the computer, the carrier can drive the card reader and the integrated circuit card plugged into the card reader to enter into the casing of the computer. The movable cover can cover and seal the opening of the casing to provide waterproof, dustproof, or anti-falling protection for the card reader and the integrated circuit card. In addition, when the user is to plug or pull the integrated circuit card, he or she just needs to allow the carrier to slide out of the casing to expose the integrated circuit card plugged into the card reader from the casing, thereby being capable of plugging or pulling the integrated circuit card. Thereby, convenience and durability of the integrated circuit card in use can be achieved at the same time. In addition, the disk drive or other data access devices in the computer and the carrier can be disposed in one containing space, thus allowing the disk drive or other data access devices and the card reader to share the containing space, the connecting interface, and the cover to save disposition space of the computer. 
     Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not for limiting the scope of the invention. Persons having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above.