Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to an electronic device having a stretchable USB receptacle adapted for an electronic device having a universal serial bus (USB) receptacle such as a notebook computer and, more particularly, to an electronic device having a stretchable USB receptacle by adding an extending connecting cable to the USB receptacle. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    The universal serial bus (USB) is not a new bus standard, but an interface technique used in the computer field. In the end of the year 1994, USB is created by the core group of companies that consist of Intel, Compaq, Microsoft, and other multiple companies. Nowadays, it is widely used in related fields. The USB provides three speeds: the low speed (1.5 Mbps), the full speed (12 Mbps or USB 1.1) and the high speed (480 Mbps or USB 2.0). They all can provide nonsynchronous and isochronal data transmission ability through a simple and low-cost four-core wire. This meets the demands of many peripheral devices including a keypad, a mouse, a printer, a loudspeaker, a scanner, an external storage device and a digital camera. 
         [0005]    Therefore, the universal serial bus receptacle (short for USB receptacle hereinbelow) also becomes the basic configuration of various electronic devices including a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant and even a mobile phone.  FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the USB receptacle in a conventional notebook computer. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the notebook computer  10  is composed of a host  12  and a screen  11 . The screen  11  may rotate relative to the host  12  to be open or closed. Generally, the USB receptacle  13  is disposed at the front edge, the back edge, the left side or the right side of the host  12 . 
         [0006]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the USB receptacle  13  is disposed on the right side of the host  12 . To facilitate the usage, the USB receptacles  13  are usually multiple. Since the space of the notebook computer is limited, the USB receptacles  13  are usually adjacent to each other, and they are almost close to each other closely. When a user inserts a flash drive  14  in the USB receptacle  13 , if the flash drive  14  is big in volume and inserted totally, part of the adjacent USB receptacle  13  is covered due to the structure of the flash drive  14 . This makes the user fail to use the adjacent USB receptacle  13 . Thus, the USB receptacle  13  is useless. In another aspect, even though the peripheral devices are a mouse, a printer, an external disk and other peripheral devices using a USB plug having an extending cable, if the notebook computer  10  is disposed in a limited space, it is also not easy to insert the USB plug to the USB receptacle  13  smoothly. Thus, the user cannot make full use of the advantage of the USB which is easy to be inserted and pulled out. 
         [0007]    The prior application with US publication number 20070115623 provided by the applicant may solve the problem effectively. However, if the connecting cable is too long, it is not easy to be accommodated, and the risk that the connecting cable may be kinked, broken and damaged due to exceeding bending exists. If the connecting cable is short, the connecting distance is limited, and the practicability is not good. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The electronic device having a stretchable USB receptacle disclosed in the invention includes an electronic device body, a USB receptacle, a cable reel and a connecting cable. The USB receptacle is electrically connected to the electronic device body via the connecting cable, and the electronic device body has an accommodating recess corresponding to the USB receptacle in it. In normal condition, the connecting cable is accommodated in the cable reel, and the USB receptacle is disposed in the accommodating recess of the electronic device body to keep consistency of the appearance. The USB receptacle with the connecting cable also may be drawn from the accommodating recess. Since the connecting cable is connected to the USB receptacle and the electronic device body, the USB receptacle still has the function of being connected to the electronic device body. Therefore, the USB receptacle may be taken out when it is necessary to extend the using scope of the USB receptacle. In addition, the disadvantage that the USB peripheral device is so big that the adjacent USB receptacle is covered is overcome. Furthermore, even though the operation space of the electronic device is small, a user also can draw the USB receptacle out to connect it to the USB peripheral devices smoothly. This not only facilitates the usage, but also overcomes the disadvantage that the cable is not easy to be accommodated, or the connecting cable is easy to be kinked, broken and damaged due to exceeding bending when it is too long. 
         [0009]    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 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the USB receptacle of a conventional notebook computer; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B  are schematic diagrams showing an electronic device having a stretchable USB receptacle in the embodiment of the invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing another aspect of the electronic device having a stretchable USB receptacle when the cable is wound in the embodiment of the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram showing the electronic device with the stretchable USB receptacle having an ejecting button; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing the electronic device with the stretchable USB receptacle in another embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0015]      FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B  are schematic diagrams showing an electronic device having a stretchable USB receptacle in the embodiment of the invention. 
         [0016]    As shown in  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , the electronic device  20  includes an electronic device body  21 , USB receptacles (As shown in  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , they are a first USB receptacle  22  and a second USB receptacle  23 , respectively.) a cable reel  215  and a connecting cable  24 . The electronic device  20  disclosed in the embodiment of the invention may be adapted for a notebook computer, a personal desktop computer, a personal digital assistant, a mobile phone and so on. The notebook computer along with the drawings herein is taken as an example, and the invention is not limited to be used in a notebook computer. 
         [0017]    The electronic device body  21  includes a host  212  and a screen  211 . The screen  211  is pivotally disposed on the host  212  to allow the screen  211  to rotate relative to the host  212  to be open and closed. The electronic device body  21  has a first USB receptacle  22  and the second USB receptacle  23 , and the USB receptacles herein is used to facilitate the illustration. When they are used in a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant, the number of the USB receptacle may be only one. When they are used in a personal desktop computer, the number of the USB receptacles may be four or more. The electronic device body  21  has an accommodating recess  213 , and the first USB receptacle  22  is electrically connected to the host  212  of the electronic device body  21  by a connecting cable  24 . The second USB receptacle  23  is a conventional USB receptacle. The first USB receptacle  22  and the second USB receptacle  23  are shown in  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B . They are both disposed at the right side of the host  212 . Similarly, they both can be disposed at the front edge, the back edge, the left side and so on. 
         [0018]    In normal condition, the first USB receptacle  22  is disposed in the accommodating recess  213  of the host  212  of the electronic device body  21 . As shown in  FIG. 2A , the cross-sectional area of the accommodating recess  213  is approximately equal to that of the first USB receptacle  22 . Considering tolerance and the convenience when the first USB receptacle  22  is disposed into the accommodating recess  213 , the accommodating recess  213  is a little bigger than the first USB receptacle  22 . Also considering that the connecting cable  24  which needs to be accommodated, the depth of the accommodating recess  213  is preferably bigger than that of the first USB receptacle  22 . In disposing, after the first USB receptacle  22  is disposed in the accommodating recess  213 , it is preferable that the side of the first USB receptacle  22  is approximately aligned with the side of the host  212  to keep consistency of the appearance of the electronic device  21 . 
         [0019]    As shown in  FIG. 2B , when a first USB peripheral device  61  is inserted in the second USB receptacle  23  (A flash drive in  FIG. 2B  is taken as an example, and the peripheral device also may be a keypad, a mouse, an external CD writer or a printer), or the first USB peripheral device  61  is too big, the first USB receptacle  22  may be covered. Since the first USB receptacle  22  is an independent module, it may be taken out from the accommodating recess  213 . To facilitate the process of taking out the first USB receptacle  22 , an indentation recess  214  may be formed at the front edge of the accommodating recess  213  to assist the user in taking out the first USB receptacle  22 . As shown in  FIG. 2B , to meet the using habit of the user, the indentation recess  214  is preferably designed at the upper and the lower sides of the accommodating recess  213 . 
         [0020]    To facilitate the process of taking out the first USB receptacle  22  from the accommodating recess  213  to extend the using scope, the connecting cable needs to have a certain length. If the connecting cable  24  is only deeply accommodated in the accommodating recess  213 , since the width of the accommodating recess  213  is not big, it may be inconvenient in using. In addition, since the connecting cable  24  is wound in the accommodating recess  213  for long, it may have the risk to be kinked, broken and damaged due to the exceeding bend. Therefore, to facilitate the accommodating of the connecting cable  24 , a cable reel  215  is additionally disposed inside the electronic device body  21  to assist in retracting the connecting cable  24 . Along with the design of the cable winding button  216 , the connecting cable  24  is retracted into the cable reel  215  by pressing the cable winding button  216  to trigger the cable reel  215 . 
         [0021]    Since the first USB receptacle  22  is electrically connected to the electronic device body  21  by the connecting cable  24 , the second USB peripheral device  62  also may be inserted into the first USB receptacle  22  and used after the first USB receptacle  22  is taken out. To make the first USB receptacle  22  take out of the accommodating recess  213  easily, the length of the connecting cable  24  should be bigger than the depth of the accommodating recess  213 . However, the using condition is not limited thereto. In another aspect, if the notebook computer is operated in a small space, the space at the right side of the host  212  may not be enough for the second USB peripheral device  62 . Thus, the first USB receptacle  22  also may be taken out and used. Even the user wants to use conveniently, he or she may utilize the invention. 
         [0022]    In another aspect,  FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing another aspect of the electronic device having a stretchable USB receptacle when the cable is wound in the invention. As shown in  FIG. 3 , apart from the design mode using the cable winding button  216 , the embodiment also may adopt a common design mode of the cable reel  215 . That is, the connecting cable  24  is quickly drawn out to trigger the cable reel  215 . Then, the connecting cable  24  is retracted in the cable reel  215 . 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , it is a schematic diagram showing the electronic device with the stretchable USB receptacle having an ejecting button. 
         [0024]    Apart from the design mode of forming the indentation recess  214 , an ejecting button  217  may be added to the host  212  of the electronic device body  21 . The first USB receptacle  22  is taken out by pressing the ejecting button  217  to drive the mechanism, or the driving mode may be an electrical driving mode. 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , it is a schematic diagram showing the electronic device having the stretchable USB receptacle in another embodiment of the invention. 
         [0026]    Apart from the examples above, the second USB receptacle  23  also may be designed to have the extending function. Thus, the USB receptacle function is well performed. 
         [0027]    Therefore, in the electronic device having the stretchable USB receptacle disclosed in the invention, the USB receptacle may be taken out when necessary. This extends the using scope of the USB receptacle, and at the same time, the disadvantage that the USB peripheral device is so big that the adjacent USB receptacle is covered is overcome. Even though space for operating the electronic device is small, the USB receptacle can be drawn out to be connected to the USB peripheral device smoothly. Along with the design of the cable reel, the connecting cable is accommodated in normal condition to prevent the connecting cable from kinking, and the risk that the connecting cable may be broken and damaged due to the exceeding bending when it is used for long may be overcome. 
         [0028]    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.

Technology Category: 3