Patent Publication Number: US-2022216709-A1

Title: Electronic device and charging foot seat thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 110100420 filed in Taiwan (R.O.C.) on Jan. 6, 2021, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to an electronic device, more particularly to an electronic device and charging foot seat thereof that can be charged via metal pins. 
     BACKGROUND 
     With the development of modern wireless charging technologies, more and more portable electronic devices offer tangle-free charging solutions so there is no need to carry tangled cords or hunt for a power outlet. Thus, wireless charging is becoming a future trend of portable electronic devices. 
     Generally, there are two ways of wirelessly charging portable electronic devices, one is using electromagnetic induction and the other is metal pin. The formal solution is costly and it requires the coils respectively in the charging pad and the electronic device to come close enough to create an electromagnetic coupling to create an electric current flowing to the receiving coil to charge the portable electronic device, thus the electronic device must be placed to make the coils align with each other, or the charging is inefficient or fails to create current. In fact, the electromagnetic coupling is unable to support fast charging for high power consumption devices, the charging of the coil-type wireless chargers in the market are all inefficient and easily produce heat due to the electromagnetic coupling, heating the contact surfaces between the charger and the device and thus causing battery deterioration and shortening service life. That is, the coil-type wireless charger is not only costly but also inefficient and having heat problems, and the situation will get worse with the increase of the power consumption of future electronic products. 
     The latter solution adapts metal pin as the path to provide electric energy, the use of metal pin is also wireless but costs less than the coil-type wireless chargers, in addition, the metal pin is efficient and stable in power transmission and can offer fast charging and avoid the problems caused by the coil-type wireless chargers. In addition, the metal pin occupies a small space and thus is favorable for product minimization. Thus, there are more and more electronic products that adapt the metal pin in wireless charging. 
     The metal pins typically are arranged on the charger, and the electronic product has mating hoes for the insertion of the pins, thus the charging involves inserting male pins into female ports. However, the electronic product must be placed in a specific way to align the pins and the holes and thus leading to an inflexible and inconvenient charging operation. 
     SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, the present disclosure provides an electronic device and charging foot seat thereof that have the advantage of metal pin charging while being more flexible and convenient. 
     One embodiment of the disclosure provides an electronic device, comprising a casing, at least one circuit board accommodated in the casing, a foot pad protruding from the casing, and a plurality of metal pins disposed through and protruding from the foot pad and electrically connected to the at least one circuit board. 
     Another embodiment of the disclosure provides an electronic device adapted to be charged by a charger pad. The electronic device includes a casing adapted to be placed on the charger pad, at least one circuit board, accommodated in the casing, a foot pad protruding from the casing, and a plurality of metal pins disposed through and protruding from the foot pad and electrically connected to the at least one circuit board. The plurality of metal pins are configured to contact the charger pad so as to form a charging path over the at least one circuit board and the charger pad for charging the electronic device. 
     Another embodiment of the disclosure provides a charging foot seat for an electronic device. The electronic device includes a casing and at least one circuit board accommodated in the casing. The charging foot seat includes a foot pad configured to be partially embedded into the casing, and a plurality of metal pins disposed through and protruding from the foot pad and configured to be electrically connected to the at least one circuit board. 
     According to the electronic device and the charging foot seat as discussed in the above embodiments of the disclosure, the metal pins being electrically connected to the circuit board are disposed through and protruding the foot pad on the casing of the electronic device; that is, the electronic device has metal pins on its foot pad, which allows the electronic device to adapt the novel charger pad. 
     In specific, the charger pad has two electrode areas of opposite electrodes for forming a charging path with the metal pins of the electronic device as discussed in the above embodiments of the disclosure. Thus, when the electronic device as discussed above is placed on the charger pad with the metal pins on the foot pad in contact the respective areas of the charger pad, a charging path will be formed over the metal pins and the charger pad. As such, the foot pad of the disclosure not only can be served as the conventional rubber feet but the elastic metal pins thereon can also be part of the charging path for charging the electronic device from the novel charger pad. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure will become better understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not intending to limit the present disclosure and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electronic device according to one embodiment of the disclosure when being placed on a charger pad; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the electronic device and the charger pad in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the charger pad in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the electronic device in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a partially-enlarged cross-sectional view of the electronic device taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a partial exploded view of the electronic device in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIGS. 7-8  are partially-enlarged side views of the electronic device in  FIG. 1  during its placement on the charger pad; 
         FIG. 9  is a partially-enlarged cross-sectional side view of an electronic device according to another embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  is a partially-enlarged exploded view of the electronic device in  FIG. 9 ; and 
         FIGS. 11-12  are partially-enlarged side views of the electronic device in  FIG. 9  during its placement on the charger pad. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. 
     The following embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. For the purpose of clear illustration, some conventional elements and components may be illustrated in a simple and clear manner. Some of the features in the drawings may be slightly exaggerated or illustrated in a larger proportion for the ease of viewing but are not intended to limit the disclosure. In addition, for the same reason, some of the elements or components in the drawings may be illustrated in dotted lines. 
     Herein, the terms, such as “end”, “part”, “portion”, “area”, may be used to refer to specific features of or between elements or components but are not intended to limit the elements and components. In addition, the terms, such as “substantially” and “approximately”, as used herein may mean a reasonable amount of deviation of the described term such that the end result is not significantly changed. 
     Further, unless explicitly stated, the term “at least one” as used herein may mean that the quantity of the described element or component is one or larger than one but does not necessarily mean that the quantity is only one. The term “and/or” may be used herein to indicate that either or both of two stated possibilities. 
     Firstly, referring to  FIGS. 1-4 , one embodiment of the disclosure provides an electronic device  1  and a charger pad  9  capable of charging the electronic device  1 , where  FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the electronic device  1  according to one embodiment of the disclosure when being placed on the charger pad  9 ,  FIG. 2  is a side view of the electronic device  1  and the charger pad  9  in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 3  is a top view of the charger pad  9  in  FIG. 1 , and  FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the electronic device  1  in  FIG. 1 . Note that the electrical/non-electrical components, such as wires/cables, traces, that are relatively irrelevant to the spirit of the disclosure are omitted or simplified from the drawings for clarity and ease of understanding the disclosure. 
     In this embodiment, the electronic device  1  is but not limited to a notebook computer. Note the electronic device  1  in the form of a notebook computer is merely for ease of explanation but does not limit the disclosure in all aspects. The electronic devices in other embodiments may be in the form of other electronic products, such as smartphone, tablet, or wearable device. 
     The charger pad  9  is a device configured for charging the electronic device  1  when the electronic device  1  is placed the charger pad  9 . As shown, the charger pad  9  is flat in shape and its upper surface is used to support the electronic device  1  and has two areas of opposite electrodes for charging the electronic device  1 , a first electrode area  91  and a second electrode area  92 . One of the first electrode area  91  and the second electrode area  92  is positive electrode, and the other is negative electrode. Correspondingly, the electronic device  1  has a plurality of metal pins  210  protruding from its bottom. When the electronic device  1  is placed on the charger pad  9 , the metal pins  210  are respectively in electrical contact with the first electrode area  91  and the second electrode area  92  so as to form a charging path over the electronic device  1  and the charger pad  9  for charging the electronic device  1 . 
     Thus, the electronic device  1  can be wirelessly charged by simply contacting the metal pins  210  with areas of different electrodes of the charger pad  9 . As shown, the first electrode area  91  and the second electrode area  92  both have a relatively large area available for having contact with the metal pins  210 , allowing highly flexible placement of the electronic device  1  onto the charger pad  9  during charging. 
     Then, please referring to  FIGS. 5-6 , the detail related to the metal pins  210  of the electronic device  1  are provided, wherein  FIG. 5  is a partially-enlarged cross-sectional view of the electronic device  1  taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 , and  FIG. 6  is a partial exploded view of the electronic device  1  in  FIG. 5 . 
     As shown, in this embodiment, the electronic device  1  at least includes a casing  10  and a charging foot seat  20 . The casing  10  basically means the part of the electronic device  1  that is mainly served as an outer structure to protect and enclose various electrical and non-electrical components of achieving required functions. The charging foot seat  20  is arranged on an outer surface  11  of the casing  10 , and at least part of the charging foot seat  20  protrudes outwards from the outer surface  11 . Viewing from the angle of the drawing, when the electronic device  1  is in the normal use, the outer surface  11  is located at the bottom of the casing  10  and faces downwards, thus, in the following paragraphs, the outer surface  11  may also be served as and called as a bottom surface of the casing  10 . The charging foot seat  20  not only can be served as the conventional foot pad (also known as “laptop feet”) of notebook computers but also can be part of the charging path for the electronic device  1  to receive electric energy from the charger pad  9 . That is, the charging foot seat  20  is able to form the path that the charger pad  9  provides electricity to the electronic device  1 . The detailed descriptions are given below. 
     In this embodiment, there is a recessed portion  111  recessed from the bottom surface  11  of the casing  10 . The recessed portion  111  is a long recess on the bottom surface  11  and is configured to accommodate at least part of the charging foot seat  20 ; in other words, at least part of the charging foot seat  20  is embedded in the recessed portion  111  of the casing  10 , and the rest part of the charging foot seat  20  is exposed and protruding outwards from the bottom surface  11  of the casing  10 . Also, the casing  10  has at least two through holes  113  located at a recess bottom surface  1111  of the recessed portion  111 , where the recess bottom surface  1111  means the surface at the bottom of the recessed portion  111 . In addition, there is at least one circuit board  30  being accommodated in the casing  10 . 
     The circuit board  30  is fixed in place with respect to the through holes  113  via the mount  40 . In specific, the mount  40  has at least one through hole  41  allowing the insertion of fastener F (e.g., screw), the fastener F can be inserted through the through hole  41  and screwed into a threaded hole  3  of the casing  10  so as to fix the mount  40  onto the casing  10 , and the circuit board  30  can be fixed with the casing  10  or mount  40  via any suitable manner, such as adhesive or screw so as to be clamped by the mount  40  and the casing  10 . In such an arrangement, the mount  40  fixed to the casing  10  is able to firmly secure the position of the circuit board  30  with respect to the through holes  113  of the casing  10 . 
     The charging foot seat  20  may include at least two metal pins  210 , a foot pad  230 , and at least two elastic connecting pieces  250 . Generally, the metal pins  210  are movable and electrically connected to the circuit board  30  due to the elastic connecting pieces  250 , the foot pad  230  protrudes outwards from the bottom surface  11  of the casing  10  and is sleeved on the metal pins  210 , and the metal pins  210  are retractably protruding the foot pad  230  via the elastic connecting piece  250 . In addition, regarding the locations of the metal pins  210 , the metal pins  210  are arranged adjacent to two opposite ends  232  of the foot pad  230 . 
     In more detail, the metal pins  210  can be made of any suitable electrically conductive metal, and there are four metal pins  210  on the electronic device  1 , two of them are for the conducting path with the first electrode area  91 , and the other two are for the conducting path with the second electrode area  92 . As shown, the areas near the opposite corners of the bottom surface  11  (or, the areas near the opposite ends  232  of the foot pad  230 ) each have two metal pins  210 , but such an arrangement is exemplary and not intended to limit the disclosure. It is understood that the minimum number of the metal pins  210  is two since each electrode area requires at least one metal pin, thus, in the electronic devices of other embodiments, the opposite corners (or opposite ends of the foot pad) may each have only one or more than two metal pins. 
     In more detail, in this embodiment, the metal pins  210  each include a base portion  211  and a protrusion portion  213  protruding outwards from a side of the base portion  211 . As shown, the base portion  211  may have a U shape spanning on the respective elastic connecting piece  250 , and the protrusion portion  213  may have a cylindrical shape. In other words, the elastic connecting piece  250  is suitable for being placed in the recess of the U-shaped base portion  211 . This arrangement is favorable for maintaining the relationship between the metal pins  210  and the elastic connecting pieces  250 . 
     The elastic connecting pieces  250  can be made of any suitable electrically conductive and elastic metal, there are the same number of elastic connecting pieces  250  as the metal pins  210 , and the elastic connecting pieces  250  are corresponding in location to the metal pins  210 . In specific, one end of the elastic connecting piece  250  is electrically connected to the circuit board  30  and another end thereof is electrically connected to the base portion  211  of the metal pin  210  so as to electrically connect the metal pin  210  to the circuit board  30 . In other words, the metal pins  210  are disposed in positions and electrically connected to the circuit board  30  via the elastic connecting pieces  250 . Thus, as the metal pins  210  contact the charger pad  9 , the charger pad  9  is electrically connected to the circuit board  30  via the metal pins  210  and the elastic connecting pieces  250 . 
     In addition, the shape and material of the elastic connecting piece  250  are suitable for it to be responsive to the pressure applied by the metal pins  210 . Thus, when the metal pin  210  applies pressure on the elastic connecting piece  250 , the elastic connecting piece  250  can be deformed so that the metal pin  210  is allowed to move with respect to the circuit board  30 . As shown, the base portion  211  of the metal pin  210  is maintained at the through hole  113  of the recessed portion  111  by being held by the elastic connecting piece  250 , when the metal pin  210  is moved to deform the elastic connecting piece  250  (as shown in  FIG. 8 ), the metal pin  210  is relatively moved towards the circuit board  30  due to the deformation of the elastic connecting piece  250 , but when the force applied on the metal pin  210  is removed, the elastic connecting piece  250  is able to restore the metal pin  210  back to its original position. Note that the elastic connecting piece shown in the drawings is exemplary, any suitable conductive and elastic structure that is capable of achieving the same purpose can be employed as the elastic connecting piece of the disclosure. 
     The foot pad  230  may be made of the material (e.g., rubber) that typically can prevent slipping and damaging and impact from a hard surface. The foot pad  230  may have an accommodating portion  231 , a plurality of through holes  233 , and a contact surface  235 . At least part of the foot pad  230  is embedded into the casing  10 . Specifically, at least part of the foot pad  230  is inserted into the recessed portion  111  of the casing  10 , and the other part of the foot pad  230  protrudes from the bottom surface  11  of the casing  10 , the contact surface  235  is the surface of the foot pad  230  exposed from the casing  10  and used to contact with surfaces, such as table or charger pad  9 . The accommodating portion  231  is located at the inner side of the foot pad  230  and can be considered as the hollow portion of the foot pad  230 . The through holes  233  penetrate through the contact surface  235  and are connected to the accommodating portion  231 . 
     The base portions  211  of the metal pins  210  are located in the accommodating portion  231  of the foot pad  230  and the protrusion portions  213  of the metal pins  210  are respectively disposed through the through holes  233  of the foot pad  230 . When there is no additional external force applied on the metal pins  210 , the elastic connecting pieces  250  hold the protrusion portions  213  of the metal pins  210  in a position of sticking out the through holes  233 , such that the protrusion portions  213  are protruding outwards from the contact surface  235  of the foot pad  230 . As shown, the metal pins  210  are more protruding than the contact surface  235  from the bottom surface  11  (or the outer surface) of the casing  10 . When the protrusion portion  213  is forced to move inwards, the metal pins  210  deform the elastic connecting piece  250  (as shown in  FIG. 8 ), such that the metal pins  210  can be moved towards the accommodating portion  231  and may only have a small portion sticking out the contact surface  235  of the foot pad  230  or become substantially align with the contact surface  235  of the foot pad  230 . 
     In addition, in this embodiment, the charging foot seat  20  may further include at least one inner frame  270  being clamped by the foot pad  230  and the recess bottom surface  1111  of the recessed portion  111 . The inner frame  270  is able to protect the metal pins  210  from the deformation of the foot pad  230 . In specific, the inner frame  270  may be made of plastic having a certain level of rigidity, the inner frame  270  may have an accommodating portion  271  and a plurality of through holes  273 , at least part of the inner frame  270  is accommodated in the accommodating portion  231  of the foot pad  230  and located between the foot pad  230  and the base portions  211  of the metal pins  210 , the base portions  211  are accommodated in the accommodating portion  271  of the inner frame  270 , and the protrusion portions  213  of the metal pins  210  are respectively disposed through the through holes  273  of the inner frame  270 . In such an arrangement, the inner frame  270  is able to protect the base portions  211  of the metal pins  210  and the elastic connecting pieces  250  in contact with the base portions  211  from the pressing due to the deformation of the foot pad  230 , thus the external force is only allowed to apply on the protrusion portions  213  of the metal pins  210  when pushing the metal pins  210  and the elastic connecting pieces  250 . 
     Then, referring to  FIGS. 7-8  to introduce the usage of the charging foot seat  20 , where  FIGS. 7-8  are partially-enlarged side views of the electronic device  1  during the placement of one of the metal pins onto the charger pad 
     Taking one of the metal pins  210  as an example to explain the placement of the charging foot seat  20  of the electronic device  1 , but it is understood that all of the metal pins  210  will have the same reaction when the electronic device  1  is placed on the charger pad  9 . 
     Firstly, in  FIG. 7 , as the electronic device  1  is to be placed on the charger pad  9 , the metal in  210  will firstly contact the charger pad  9 . At this moment, the charger pad  9  is electrically connected to the circuit board  30  via the metal pin  210  and the elastic connecting piece  250 , such that the metal pins  210  are able to be respectively in electrical contact with the first electrode area  91  and the second electrode area  92  of the charger pad  9  so as to form a charging path over the electronic device  1  and the charger pad  9  and begin to charge or provide electricity to the electronic device  1 . Note that the quantity of the circuit board to achieve the charging path can be modified as required. 
     Then, the electronic device  1  can be released to let its weight against the metal pin  210  so as to force the metal pin  210  and the elastic connecting piece  250  between the metal pin  210  and the circuit board  30  to deform, such that the protrusion portion  213  of the metal pin  210  is retracted into the foot pad  230  in a direction towards the circuit board  30 . During the movement of the metal pin  210 , the protrusion portion  213  is still in electric contact with the charger pad  9  under the protection of the foot pad  230 . When the electronic device  1  is statically placed on the charger pad  9 , the foot pad  230  contacts the surface of the charger pad  9  with its contact surface  235  so as to prevent the electronic device  1  from slipping on the charger pad  9  and ensure that the electronic device  1  stably rests on the charger pad  9 . 
     As discussed, one embodiment of the disclosure provides an electric contacting manner using elastic metal pins, but it occupies relatively small space, is cost-saving, and provides a higher efficient path for energy transmission compared to the coil-type wireless charger, and thus it does not cause problems with heat generation. Also, the sticking-out metal pins  210  on the electronic device  1  allow the electronic device  1  to work with a novel charger pad (e.g., the charger pad  9 ), having the advantage of metal pin charging and being more flexible and convenient compared to the charging using male pin inserting into mating female port. 
     The above embodiments are exemplary and not intended to limit the disclosure. The electronic devices of other embodiments are given below but for clarity and simple illustration, only the differences from the above embodiments will be described, the similar or same parts thereamong will not be repeated hereinafter. 
     For example, referring to  FIGS. 9-10 , where  FIG. 9  is a partially-enlarged cross-sectional side view of an electronic device  1 ′ according to another embodiment of the disclosure, and  FIG. 10  is a partially-enlarged exploded view of the electronic device  1 ′ in  FIG. 9 , in a charging foot seat  20 ′ of this embodiment, metal pins  210 ′ are also arranged at two opposite ends  232 ′ of a foot pad  230 ′, but the metal pins  210 ′ are fixed with the foot pad  230 ′. In specific, the metal pin  210 ′ is disposed through the through hole  233  of the foot pad  230 ′ but its position relative to the foot pad  230 ′ is fixed thus is unable to further stick out or retracted into the foot pad  230 ′. As shown, the metal pin  210 ′ being embedded into the foot pad  230 ′ with one end protruding from the contact surface  235  and the other end protruding from another surface of the foot pad  230 ′ opposite to the contact surface  235 , the metal pin  210 ′ is electrically connected to the elastic connecting piece  250 , and there is a room at the inner side of the foot pad  230 ′ available for the movement of the metal pin  210 ′. 
     Then, referring to  FIGS. 11-12 , in  FIG. 11 , the charger pad  9  is electrically connected to the circuit board  30  via the metal pin  210 ′ and the elastic connecting piece  250 , beginning to charge the electronic device  1 ′. Then, in  FIG. 2 , the weight of the electronic device  1 ′ against the metal pin  210 ′ and the elastic connecting piece  250  causes the elastic connecting piece  250  to deform and the metal pin  210 ′ to move towards the circuit board  30 , and the foot pad  230 ′ is deformed due to the movement of the metal pin  210 ′. Thus, the metal pin  210 ′ is still in electric contact with the charger pad  9 . 
     According to the electronic devices and the charging foot seats as discussed in the above embodiments of the disclosure, the metal pins being electrically connected to the circuit board are disposed through and protruding the foot pad on the casing of the electronic device; that is, the electronic device has metal pins on its foot pad, which allows the electronic device to adapt the novel charger pad. 
     In specific, unlike the coil-type wireless charger, the charger pad has two electrode areas of opposite electrodes for forming a charging path with the specific device placed on the charger pad. Thus, when the electronic device as discussed above is placed on the charger pad with its foot pad in contact with the electrode areas, a charging path will be formed over the metal pins and the charger pad. As such, the foot pad of the disclosure not only can be served as the conventional rubber feet but the elastic metal pins thereon can also be part of the charging path for charging the electronic device from the novel charger pad. 
     Comparing to the coil-type wireless charger, the electronic device as discussed above receives power by directly contacting the metal pins with the charger pad, thus the charging is high efficient and simple and does not cause problems with heat generation. In addition, comparing to the charging using male pin inserting into mating female port, the disclosure arranges the metal pins on the electronic device, thus, as discussed above, the charging path can be formed by simply placing the foot pad on the charger pad to let its metal pins contact the respective areas of the charger pad without the need to carefully position the charging terminals, making the charging high flexible and convenient. 
     Accordingly, with the above arrangement of the embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device is able to work with the novel charger pad, having the advantage of metal pin charging while being more flexible and convenient than conventional wireless charging manners. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present disclosure. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary embodiments only, with a scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.