Patent Abstract:
An integrated connecting port module is suitable for an adapter having one terminal which is a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) adapting port and the other terminal which is a Digital Visual Interface (DVI) adapting port. The integrated connecting port module includes a case, an HDMI port and at least one expansion port. The case has a width not smaller than that of the DVI adapting port. The HDMI port and the expansion port are installed on the case and are stacked. An electronic device including the integrated connecting port module is also disclosed.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 096143616 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Nov. 16, 2007, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The invention is related to a connecting port module and, more specifically, to an integrated module with a plurality of connecting ports and an electronic device equipped with the integrated module. 
     2. Related Art 
     The electronic device such as the main board, computer, or LCD TV usually has various types of connecting ports for matching connectors with different standards for establishing the desired connection. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a plurality of 3.5 mm stereo jacks  12 , a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port  13 , and a plurality of universal serial bus (USB) ports  14  are installed on a circuit board  11 . Because the mechanical standard (e.g. the interface width) of the HDMI port  13  is smaller, the adjacent 3.5 mm stereo jacks  12  or USB ports  14  are not blocked or interfered when a standard HDMI adapter is inserted. 
     Since the signal transmissions of the digital visual interface (DVI) and the HDMI both follow the transition minimized differential signaling (TMDS) transmission protocol, the signals from the DVI and from the HDMI can be adapted through an interface converter  2 . When a user inserts the interface converter  2 , in which one terminal is an HDMI adapting port  21  and the other terminal is a DVI adapting port  22 , to the HDMI port  13  on the circuit board  11 , because the width W 1  of the DVI port is larger than the width W 2  of the HDMI port and the interface converter  2  is used to connect a smaller interface to a larger one, the interface converter  2  will partially block the adjacent 3.5 mm stereo jacks  12  or USB ports  14 . Thus, the blocked or interfered ports  12  and  14  cannot be used conveniently. Moreover, other connectors may not even be inserted into the ports  12  and  14 , so that these ports  12  and  14  cannot be used. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the invention is to provide an integrated connecting port module that is able to prevent the interference between the connecting ports, and an electronic device equipped with the integrated connecting port module. 
     An integrated connecting port module of the invention is suitable to an interface converter having a terminal being a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) adapting port and the other terminal being a digital visual interface (DVI) adapting port. The integrated connecting port module includes a case, an HDMI port, and at least one expansion port. The case has a width not smaller than that of the DVI adapting port. The HDMI port and the expansion port are installed on the case and stacked. 
     An electronic device of the invention is suitable to an interface converter having a terminal being an HDMI adapting port and the other terminal being a DVI adapting port. The electronic device includes a circuit board and an integrated connecting port module, which includes a case, an HDMI port, and an expansion port. The case has a width larger than or equal to that of the DVI adapting port. The HDMI port and the expansion port are stacked and installed on the case, and the integrated connecting module is installed on the circuit board. 
     As described above, the case width of the integrated connecting port module of the invention is larger than or equal to the width of the DVI adapting port. Accordingly, besides the HDMI port, the integrated connecting port module has a sufficient space for connecting with an interface converter so as to convert the HDMI to the DVI. In addition, the interface converter connecting to the HDMI port will not spatially block or interfere with other expansion port, expander, or connector. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, which are given for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of the conventional art showing that a circuit board has a plurality of connecting ports; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an integrated connecting port module and an interface converter according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of the back pins of the integrated connecting port module according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIGS. 4A and 4B  are schematic diagrams of another aspect of the back pins of the integrated connecting port module according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of the electronic device with the integrated connecting port module according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of the back pins of the integrated connecting port module according to another preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a plurality of 3.5 mm stereo jacks  41 , an integrated connecting port module  3 , and a plurality of universal serial bus (USB) ports  42  are installed on a circuit board  4 . The circuit board  4  has signal lines (not shown) to electrically connect with the 3.5 mm stereo jacks  41 , integrated connecting port module  3 , and USB ports  42 . 
     In addition, the integrated circuits (IC) or chips such as the microprocessor, micro controller, RAM, power management chip, graphic processing unit, communication control chip (e.g. USB, IEEE 1394, ATA, IEEE 802.x), or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (not shown) may also be installed on the circuit board  4 . These ICs or chips are connected to each other, as well as to the 3.5 mm stereo jacks  41 , the integrated connecting port module  3 , and the USB ports  42 , through the signal lines on the circuit board  4  so as to output the processed results or receive data from the outside. In this embodiment, the circuit board  4  may be a main board of an arithmetic device (e.g. electronic devices such as a computer, projector, portable communication device, or video game station). 
     The integrated connecting port module  3  that is installed on the circuit board  4  includes a case  31 , an HDMI port  32 , and an expansion port  33 . The case  31  has a bottom  311 , through which the case  31  may be fixed to the circuit board  4 . In the embodiment, the HDMI port  32  and expansion port  33  are parallel with each other and stacked over the case  31 , and the HDMI port  32  is located between the bottom  311  and the expansion port  33 . 
     An interface converter  5  converts the signal outputted from the HDMI port  32  to another video standard. In the embodiment the video standard is a DVI standard, so that one terminal of the interface converter  5  is an HDMI adapting port  51  and the other is a DVI adapting port  52 . 
     Additionally, in order to make sure that the interface converter  5  connected to the HDMI port  32  will not block or interfere with the adjacent ports, the width W 3  of the case  31  of the integrated connecting port module  3  is larger than or equal to the width W 4  of the DVI adapting port  52 . As the interface converter  5  is connected to the HDMI port  32  of the integrated connecting port module  3 , since the width W 4  of the interface converter  5  is smaller than or equal to the width W 3  of the integrated connecting port module  3 , the stereo jacks  41  and the USB ports  42  adjacent to the integrated connecting port module  3  will not be blocked or interfered. 
     In addition, the frequency is a factor to be considered when it comes to the disposition of the HDMI port  32  and expansion port  33 . Practically, in order to prevent the attenuation of the high frequency signal, the port for transmitting such has to be closer to the circuit board  4 . The port for transmitting the low frequency signal can be farther to the circuit board  4 . Since the HDMI port  32  needs to transmit a large amount of video data, the signal transmission frequency thereof is usually high. In addition to the demand for better image quality, the amount of data transfer for each video standard has gone up in recent years, which leads to a higher signal transmission frequency of the HDMI port  32 . Therefore, compared to the expansion port  33 , the HDMI port  32  may be disposed to a position closer to the circuit board  4 , i.e. under the integrated connecting port module  3 , and the expansion port  33  with a lower transmission frequency is disposed to a position over the HDMI port  32 . 
     In the embodiment, because the transmission frequency of the HDMI is in GHz, the HDMI port  32  is disposed to a position closer to the circuit board  4 . The expansion port  33  with a lower transmission frequency may be disposed over the HDMI port  32 . For example, the expansion port  33  can be a conventional VGA port as shown in  FIG. 2 . The expansion port  33  disposed over the HDMI port  32  can also be any of other standards such as D-sub terminal, IEEE 1394, IEEE 802.x, SATA, PS2, and 3.5 mm stereo jack. Besides, the 3.5 mm stereo jack  41  and USB port  42  are not the limited standards, and other standards such as D-sub terminal, IEEE 1394, IEEE 802.x. SATA, and PS2 shall be included in the scope of the invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the pins  321  and  331  of the HDMI port  32  and expansion port  33 , respectively, may be directly extended to the circuit board  4  so as to electrically connect to the circuits on the circuit board  4  (not shown). Accordingly, the signals on the circuit board  4  will be transmitted to the connector and/or interface converter  5  through the expansion port  33 . 
     Additionally, as shown in  FIG. 4A , to further save more space on the circuit board  4  that may be needed for the integrated connecting port module  3 , in the embodiment, two groups of pins  331 ′ and  332 ′ are extended from two side surfaces of the expansion port  33 ′ in the direction parallel with the bottom  311  and then bended downward to electrically connect with the circuit board  4 . 
     Moreover, another aspect of the extended direction of the pins is shown in  FIG. 4B . Two groups of pins  331 ′ and  332 ′ are extended from the bottom of the expansion port  33 ′, then bended and extended along the direction parallel with the top of the HDMI port  32 . After that, the extended part that exceeds the top of the HDMI port  32  is bended downward to electrically connect with the circuit board  4 . 
     In addition, another aspect of the extended direction of the pins  331 ′ and  332 ′ is that the pins may be directly extended from the bottom of the expansion port  33 ′ along the HDMI port  32  and case  31  to connect with the circuit board  4  (not shown). Similarly, the two groups of the pins  331 ′ and  332 ′ go around the HDMI port  32 , respectively. 
     The above-mentioned three aspects of the pins are able to reduce the thickness D of the expansion port  33 ′ and integrated connecting port module  3 ′, and the space that is contiguous with the sides of HDMI port  32  may be effectively used so as to reduce the area needed on the circuit board  4  for the expansion port  33 ′ and the integrated connecting port module  3 ′. Hence the layout of the circuit board  4  may be efficiently deployed. The number of the pins  331 ′ and  332 ′ may be disposed depending on the width d of the side of the HDMI port  32 . The rows of the pins  331 ′ and  332 ′ may be increased if necessary so that the thickness D of the integrated connecting port module  3 ′ will be effectively decreased. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of an electronic device  8  with the integrated connecting port module according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the electronic device  8  includes an integrated connecting port module  6  and a circuit board  7 . The circuit board  7  has the same function and technical characteristics as the circuit board  4  of the previous embodiment, so the detailed description thereof will be omitted. The electronic device  8  of the embodiment may be a portable electronic device, a projector, a computer, or a video game station. 
     The integrated connecting port module  6  that is installed on the circuit board  7  includes a case  61 , an HDMI port  62 , and an expansion port  63 . The case  61  may have a bottom  611 , through which the case  61  is fixed to the circuit board  7 . In the integrated connecting port module  6 , a plurality of the expansion ports  63  and  64 , such as the USB port, PS2, IEEE 1394, IEEE 802.x, 3.5 mm stereo output, or D-sub terminal, may be installed over the HDMI port  62 . In  FIG. 5 , the expansion ports  63  and  64  are, for example, USB ports. 
     In the direction perpendicular to the bottom  611  of the case  61 , the HDMI port  62  and expansion ports  63  and  64  are disposed interlaced. In other words, the HDMI port  62  is located corresponding to the interval between the expansion ports  63  and  64 . 
     When one terminal of the interface converter  5  is matching the HDMI adapting port  51  and the other is matching the DVI adapting port  52 , after the HDMI adapting port  51  and HDMI port  62  are linked, the entire width of the interface converter  5  is exactly the width of the case  61 . Thus the later use of the adjacent parts such as the 3.5 mm stereo jack  71  will not be affected. 
       FIG. 6  is a schematic back view of the integrated connecting port module  6  in  FIG. 5 . The expansion ports  63  and  64  have multiple pins  631  and  641 , respectively. The pins  631  and  641  may be directly extended from the lower surface of the expansion ports  63  and  64  along the case  61  and connected to the circuit board  4 . They go around the HDMI port  62 , respectively. Therefore, not only the space over the HDMI port  62  may be used to install more expansion ports  63  and  64 , and the space around the HDMI port  62  may also be used to contain the pins  631  and  641  of the expansion ports  63  and  64 . Thus, the thickness D of the integrated connecting port module  6  may be reduced so as to effectively deploy the layout of the circuit board  7 . Furthermore, the pins  631  and  641  and the pin  621  of the HDMI port  62  can be any of various aspects illustrated in the previous embodiments of  FIGS. 3 ,  4 A, and  4 B, so the detailed description thereof will be omitted. 
     Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7