Patent ID: 7352566

Claim:
A common lock used in a dual-usage portable computer comprised of a base member and a display pivotally connected to said base member and rotated relative to said base member, said display having a front wall, a back wall, and a peripheral wall connected between said front wall and said back wall, said front wall having an elongated slot, said back wall having an elongated slot, said peripheral wall having an elongated opening disposed between the elongated slot of said front wall and the elongated slot of said back wall, said base member having a locating hole at a top wall thereof, said common lock comprising: an elongated operating frame bar longitudinally slidably mounted inside said display, said elongated operating frame bar comprising an operating portion projecting from a middle part thereof and extending through the elongated opening of said peripheral wall to the outside of said display, at least one first vertical slot cut through a left-side endpiece thereof, and at least one second vertical slot cut through a right-side endpiece thereof; a left-side frame fixedly mounted inside said display and adjacent to the left-side endpiece of said elongated operating frame bar, said left-side frame having at least one oblique slot sloping leftwards corresponding to the at least one first vertical slot of said elongated operating frame bar; a right-side frame fixedly mounted inside said display and adjacent to the right-side endpiece of said elongated operating frame bar, said right-side frame having at least one oblique slot sloping rightwards corresponding to the at least one second vertical slot of said elongated operating frame bar; a left-side hook sandwiched in between the left-side endpiece of said elongated operating frame bar and said left-side frame, said left-side hook having at least one protruding portion symmetrically disposed at each of two opposite sides thereof and respectively inserted into the at least one first vertical slot of said elongated operating frame bar and the at least one oblique slot of said left-side frame and a retaining portion curved downwards from one end thereof for insertion through the elongated slot of said front wall of said display into the locating hole of said base member; and a right-side hook sandwiched in between the right-side endpiece of said elongated operating frame bar and said right-side frame, said right-side hook having at least one protruding portion symmetrically disposed at each of two opposite sides thereof and respectively inserted into the at least one second vertical slot of said elongated operating frame bar and the at least one oblique slot of said right-side frame and a retaining portion curved upwards from one end thereof for insertion through the elongated slot of said back wall of said display into the locating hole of said base member.