Patent Publication Number: US-2010108855-A1

Title: Electronic apparatus and rotating module thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a rotating module and an electronic apparatus, and particularly, the invention relates to a rotating module and an electronic apparatus capable of decreasing the vibration and the noise generated by the rotator. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Projectors are the complex integration of optics, mechanics, and electronics. During operation, huge thermal energy will be generated, which will damage the components inside the projector. Since components inside the projector are sensitive to the heat, the heat dissipation of projectors is an important issue for the manufacturer. Especially, it is a great task to dissipate heat efficiently with less noise in miniaturized projectors. 
     The conventional method, “forced convection”, is used to dissipate heat by using a fan to bring the air with high thermal energy off from the heat-producing component out of the projector. Please refer to  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B .  FIG. 1A  is an assembly drawing illustrating the heat dissipating module  10  applied in the projector in the prior art.  FIG. 1B  is a front view of the heat dissipating module  10  in  FIG. 1A . As shown in  FIG. 1A , the heat dissipating module  10  includes a fan  100  and a bracket  102 . The fan  100  is coupled to the bracket  102  by positioning pillars  11  and  12 . The bracket  102  is locked at the base of the projector by a locking part  1020 . The fan  100  is set close to and aligned to the main heat-producing component of the projector. Thus, the projector could be cooled under the appropriated temperature even for long time operation. 
     The fan  100 , the bracket  102 , and the base of the projector are independent objects, and it is inevitable that the intervals exist after assembling. While the fan  100  rotates, the heat dissipating module  10  vibrates as a whole and results in noise. The vibration caused by the operation of the fan  100  transmits to the projector through the bracket  102 , which generates the vibration of the projector and the louder noise. 
     The reason why the noise and the vibration exists in the heating dissipating module  10  in  FIG. 1B  is that the distance, between the locking part  1020  of the bracket  102  and the rotating center of the fan  100  (the vibrating center of the fan  100 ), is further for the simple structure and the low cost. Besides, the locking part  1020  of the bracket  102  for fixing the bracket  102  at the base of the projector in  FIG. 1A  is only bended once. For solving the aforementioned problem, a vibration restraining component  104  such as a sponge is disposed between the bracket  102  and the projector generally, as shown in  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B . However, it does not decrease the vibration and the noise well. 
     Therefore, a main scope of the invention is to provide an electronic device and a rotating module thereof. By shortening the distance between the locking part of the bracket and the rotating center of the rotator in the rotating module and forming the bended portion of the bracket with two bends at least, the vibration and the noise problem generated by the rotator could be solved effectively. Besides, the vibration restraining component could be removed from the bracket and the projector to lower the cost. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A scope of the invention is to provide a rotating module configured on a standard surface and including a rotator and a bracket. The rotator has a radius and it rotates around an axle. The bracket is coupled to the rotator and fixes the rotator on the standard surface. The bracket includes a main structure and a locking part. The main structure partially covers the rotator and exposes a part of the rotator. The locking part is extended form the main structure and located on a reference. In particular, the distance between the axle of the rotator and the reference surface is smaller than two thirds of the radius of the rotator. 
     Another scope of the invention is to provide a rotating module configured on a standard surface and including a rotator and a bracket. The bracket is coupled to the rotator and fixes the rotator on the standard surface. The bracket includes a main structure and a bended portion. The main structure partially covers the rotator and exposes a part of the rotator. The bended portion is extended from the main structure and had been bended at least two times to form a locking part. 
     Another scope of the invention is to provide an electronic apparatus including a base and a rotating module. The rotating module is configured on the base and includes a rotator and a bracket. The rotator has a radius and it rotates around an axle. The bracket is coupled to the rotator and fixes the rotator on the base. The bracket includes a main structure and a locking part. The main structure partially covers the rotator and exposes a part of the rotator. The locking part is extended form the main structure and located on a reference surface. In particular, the distance between the axle of the rotator and the reference surface is smaller than two thirds of the radius of the rotator. 
     Another scope of the invention is to provide an electronic apparatus including a base and a rotating module. The rotating module is configured on the base and includes a rotator and a bracket. The bracket is coupled to the rotator and fixes the rotator on the base. The bracket includes a main structure and a bended portion. The main structure partially covers the rotator and exposes a part of the rotator. The bended portion is extended from the main structure and had been bended at least two times to form a locking part. 
     Therefore, according to the rotating module and the electronic apparatus of the embodiments of the invention, by shortening the distance between the locking part of the bracket and the rotating center of the rotator in the rotating module and forming the bended portion of the bracket with two bends at least, the vibration and the noise problem generated by the rotator could be solved effectively. 
     The advantage and spirit of the invention may be understood by the following recitations together with the appended drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE APPENDED DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is an assembly drawing illustrating the heat dissipating module applied in the projector in the prior art. 
         FIG. 1B  is a front view of the heat dissipating module in  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2A  is an assembly drawing illustrating the rotating module fixed at the electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2B  is an exploded drawing of the rotating module in the electronic apparatus in  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the rotating module in  FIG. 2A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is to provide a rotating module and an electronic apparatus. Particularly, the distance between the locking part of the bracket and the rotating center of the rotator in the rotating module is shortened than that in the prior art and the bended portion of the bracket had been bended twice, which solves the vibration and the noise problem generated by the rotator effectively. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B .  FIG. 2A  shows the rotating module  30  fixed at the electronic apparatus (not shown in the figure) according to an embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 2B  is an exploded drawing of the rotating module  30  in the electronic apparatus in  FIG. 2A . As shown in  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , the electronic apparatus of the invention includes a base  20  and the rotating module  30 . The rotating module  30  configured on the base  20  of the electronic apparatus includes a rotator  300  and a bracket  302 . The rotating module may be but not limit to a heat dissipating module, the rotator may be but not limit to as a fan, the electronic apparatus may be a projector, a computer, and the kind which includes the rotator. The details of the construction, the function, and the operation of the embodiment of the invention would be described as the following. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2A , the rotator  300  (such as a fan) could rotate around an axle  3000  to generate an airflow in the electronic apparatus. Besides, the rotator  300  has a radius with a specific length. In this embodiment, the electronic apparatus is a projector including a light engine system (not shown in the figure) and a nozzle (not shown in the figure). The nozzle is disposed between the rotator  300  and the light engine system to guide the airflow into the light engine system. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2B , the rotator  300  is coupled to the bracket  302  of the rotating module  30  by the position pillars  31  and  32  and fixed on the base  20  of the electronic apparatus. The bracket  302  includes a main structure  3020 , a first locking part  3022  and a second locking part  3024 . The rotator  300  leans on the main structure  3020  of the bracket  302 . The main structure  3020  partially covers the rotator  300  and makes a part of the rotator  300  exposed. The first locking part  3022  and the second locking part  3024  are extended form the main structure  3020 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a front view illustrating the rotating module  30  in  FIG. 2A . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the first locking part  3022  is located on a first reference surface R 1 , and the second locking part  3024  is located on the second reference surface R 2 . Based on the consideration for product design and the assembling tolerance, the distances from the axle  3000  of the rotator  300  to the first reference surface R 1  and the second reference surface R 2  are smaller than two thirds of the radius of the rotator  300 . 
     In other words, a feature of the invention is to make the first reference surface R 1  (where the first locking part  3022  located) and the second reference surface R 2  (where the second locking part  3024  located) as close as possible to the axle  3000  of the rotator  300  (namely, the rotating center) to effectively decrease the vibration generated by the rotator  300 . It is the reason that the closer to the rotating center, the less vibrating torque is generated, which keeps not only the rotating module  30  but also the electronic apparatus stable. 
     Therefore, in the preferred embodiment, the axle  3000  of the rotator  300  of the rotating module  30 , the first reference surface R 1 , and the second reference surface R 2  are substantially at the same height relative to the base of the electronic apparatus, and the vibration generated by the rotator  300  is greatly decreased to obtain the optimum vibration restraining effect on both the rotating module and the whole electronic apparatus. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2B , the bracket  302  of the rotating module  30  includes a first bended portion  3030  and a second bended portion  3032 . The first bended portion  3030  and the second bended portion  3032  are extended from the bracket, and the first locking part  3022  and the second locking part  3024  are respectively configured at the first bended portion  3030  and the second bended portion  3032 . Compared to the prior art, the first bended portion  3030  and the second bended portion  3032  of the bracket  302  of the rotating module  30  in the invention had been bended twice at least. 
     In other words, another feature of the invention is that the first bended portion  3030  and the second bended portion  3032  of the bracket  302  of the rotating module  30  had been bended twice at least. The vibration transmitted from the rotator  300  to the base  20  would be weakened through several bends, so as to greatly decrease the vibration transmitted from the rotator  300  to the whole electronic apparatus. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the first bended portion  3030  of the bracket  302  of the rotating module  30  includes a first surface  3026  and a second surface  3028 . 
     The first surface  3026  is extended from the main structure  3020  of the bracket  302 . The second surface  3028  is connected to and extended from the first surface  3026 . The bends, between the main structure  3020  and the first surface  3026  and between the first surface  3026  and the second surface  3028 , weaken the vibration generated by the rotator  300  transmitted to the electronic apparatus. Besides, the first surface  3026  of the first bended portion  3030  is preferably perpendicular to the main structure  3020  (namely, the angle between the first surface  3026  and the main structure  3020  is)90°, and the second surface  3028  is preferably perpendicular to the first surface  3026 . The second locking part  3024  of the second bended  3032  has the same configuration and the related description is omitted. It should be noted that the number of the surfaces of the bended portion and the angle between the surfaces may be modified according to the practical application and not be limited to the embodiments of the invention. 
     Besides, as shown in  FIG. 2B , the base  20  has a first protruding portion  200  corresponding to the first locking part  3022  and a second protruding portion  202  corresponding to the second locking part  3024 . The first protruding portion  200  and the second protruding portion  202  are extended from the base  20  of the electronic apparatus, and are connected to the first locking part  3022  and the second locking part  3024  by screws  33  and  34  respectively. 
     According to the rotating module and the electronic apparatus in the embodiments of the invention, the vibration and the noise problem generated by the rotator could be solved effectively by forming the bended portion of the bracket with two bends at least and setting the locking part of the bracket as close as possible to the rotating center in the rotating module. Besides, the vibration restraining component could be removed from the bracket and the projector to lower the cost. 
     With the example and explanations above, the features and spirits of the invention will be hopefully well described. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teaching of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.