Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to notebooks, more particularly to such a notebook having a CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive being combined with a touch pad disposed on a top surface of the CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive as a unit for aesthetic and space saving purposes.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The world has come to a new era with information technology being progressed rapidly. Various types of computer-related products are commercially available due to the fast progress in computer science and electronics. The fast development of such new products not only brings a lot of convenience but also is closely associated with our daily life and work. In response to various newly available computer-related products, especially notebook computers (hereinafter called notebooks), people become more critical with respect to the features and/or quality thereof. Thus, whether portable computers (e.g., notebooks) can provide a more convenient and effective service to users will be an indicator to decide whether the manufacturing technology of computer-related products of one country is more advanced than other countries. For notebook, as self-explanatory, means that a computer can be easily opened or closed just like opening or closing a looseleaf notebook. Notebooks are advantageous for being slim, compact, lightweight, and portable. The notebook generally comprises a display, a housing, and at least one hinge coupled between the display and the housing. In an inoperable position the display is rested upon the housing. For using the notebook, a user can pivot the display to position at an optimum angle with respect to the housing. Thereafter, the user can enter data through a keyboard on the housing and the data is then processed by the notebook. Next, information is sent to the display via a cable. Finally, the information is shown on the screen of the display for viewing.  
         [0003]     Nowadays, a wide variety of computer software packages are available. Most software packages are designed to run on a window based operating system (e.g., widely used Microsoft Windows). A keyboard comprises a number of direction keys. A user may experience inconvenience and difficulty in manipulating a notebook if the user only uses the direction keys. As such, at least one pointing device is provided on a notebook in addition to the typical keyboard so as to facilitate the manipulation of the notebook by moving or rolling the pointing device around.  
         [0004]     Currently, mouse is the most widely employed input device other than the keyboard. Mouse is a pointing device which as defined, means a computer peripheral that allows you to control your computer by moving a pointer on the screen. Moreover, pointing devices similar to mouse are constantly developed and/or improved as time evolves and are widely employed in notebooks. Gradually, such pointing devices become integral parts of a notebook. For example, a pointing device (e.g., touch pad) is one of the most widely employed components in a notebook. A touch pad is advantageous for being ease of manipulation. In short, a user may press the finger(s) on the touch pad and move the touch pad toward a desired direction in the process of controlling the pointing direction of the cursor.  
         [0005]     In addition to a mouse port on one side of a well known notebook, typically another port adapted to couple to a cable is provided on the same side. The cable is adapted to interconnect another port and a peripheral device for data transfer. Alternatively, another port adapted to couple to a flash drive is provided. In a case of the ports on the side of the notebook coupled to a mouse, a cable, and a flash drive, a user may remove the mouse, the cable, and the flash drive with difficulty prior to opening a CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive mounted on the same side as the mouse, the cable, and the flash drive ports. Unfortunately, the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive may be damaged if sufficient care is not taken in the opening. This is very inconvenient and may cause trouble to a user.  
         [0006]     Moreover, as stated above, major notebook manufacturers dedicate to develop all-in-one notebooks. It is understood that the computer market is very competitive. Thus, it is desirable among vast consumers to provide an ergonomic, multifunctional, all-in-one, and convenient notebook having its touch pad and CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive arranged as a unit. By providing such notebooks, one notebook manufacturer is able to beat other rival ones in the very competitive computer market.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     After considerable research and experimentation, a notebook having its touch pad and CD-ROM drive being combined according to the present invention has been devised so as to overcome the above drawbacks of the prior art. The drawbacks are that in a case of the mouse, the cable, and flash drive ports on the side of the notebook coupled to a mouse, a cable, and a flash drive, a user may remove the mouse, the cable, and the flash drive with difficulty prior to opening a CD-ROM drive mounted on the same side as the mouse, the cable, and the flash drive ports. Also, the CD-ROM drive may be damaged if sufficient care is not taken in the opening. Such is very inconvenient and may cause trouble to the user.  
         [0008]     One object of the present invention is to provide a notebook having a mechanism for combining a touch pad and a CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive in which the CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive disposed on one side of the notebook in the prior art is removed to combine with the touch pad disposed on a top surface of the CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive as a unit. By utilizing the present invention, advantages including (i) eliminating the inconvenience of removing the cable and/or one or more peripheral devices in opening a CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive in the notebook; (ii) saving precious internal space of the housing of the notebook; and (iii) providing an aesthetic, circular touch pad assembly so as to be more attractive to many potential notebook buyers and thus more competitive in the computer market.  
         [0009]     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a notebook having combined touch pad and CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive according to the invention, where the notebook is open; and  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged view of the open touch pad assembly and adjacent area on the notebook. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0012]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , there is shown a notebook having an arrangement for combining its touch pad and CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive as a unit in accordance with the invention. The notebook comprises a display  10 , a housing  11 , and at least one pivot member (e.g., hinge)  12  coupled between the display  10  and the housing  11 . In an inoperable position the display  10  is rested upon the housing  11 . Alternatively, a user may pivot (i.e., open) the display  10  to position at an optimum angle with respect to the housing  11  by pivoting about the pivot member  12 . A manipulating section  13  is formed on a top surface of the housing  11 . A keyboard  14  is provided on the manipulating section  13  adjacent the pivot member  12 . The keyboard  14  is implemented as a membrane keyboard in the embodiment. At least one input/output (I/O) port  15  is provided on one side of the housing  11 . Each I/O port  15  is adapted to couple to a mouse or a flash drive (not shown) so that a pointer (e.g., cursor) on the screen can be manipulated for control and transferring data. The I/O port  15  is implemented as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) in the embodiment.  
         [0013]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2  again, a touch pad assembly  20  is provided on the manipulating section  13  between the keyboard  14  and a forward end. The touch pad assembly  20  is an input device for manipulating the pointer on the screen of the display  10 . The touch pad assembly  20  operates substantially the same as a mouse, a pointing stick (or called tracking stick), or a trackball. In the invention, the touch pad assembly  20  is circular and comprises a touch pad  21  occupying most portion of its surface, a first button  22 , and an adjacent second button  23  (see  FIG. 1 ). Another connecting member (e.g., hinge)  24  is provided at a bottom edge of the touch pad  21  for pivotably coupling the touch pad  21  to an annular recessed shoulder on the manipulating section  13  (see  FIG. 2 ). A user can control the pointer on the display  10  by touching the touch pad  21  or pressing the first button  22  or the second button  23  to click an icon or an item of a menu shown on the display  10 . A user may unlock a lock member  30  by disengaging it from a mated lock member  26  both provided adjacent an edge of the touch pad assembly  20 . Thereafter, the user can pivot (i.e., open) the touch pad assembly  20  to position at an optimum angle with respect to the manipulating section  13  by pivoting about another connecting member  24 .  
         [0014]     Referring to  FIG. 2  again, a CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive  40  is provided under the touch pad assembly  20 . A disc receiving cavity  41  of the CD-ROM drive  40  is exposed by opening the touch pad assembly  20  at a sufficient angle. A read/write head  42  is provided on a bottom of the CD-ROM drive  40 . A CD (not shown) is adapted to snugly fit onto the disc receiving cavity  41 . Next, close the touch pad assembly  20  onto the disc receiving cavity  41 . A positioning plate  25  on a bottom of the touch pad assembly  20  is thus lowered to hold the CD in place. Thereafter, a reading of the CD can be performed.  
         [0015]     Referring to  FIG. 2  again, the mated lock member  26  is implemented as a hole and the lock member  30  is implemented as sliding lock in the embodiment. The mated lock member  26  and the lock member  30  are disposed correspondingly on the edge of the touch pad assembly  20 . The sliding lock comprises a button  31  projected from a top surface of the manipulating section  13 , an inclined end  32  facing the mated lock member  26 , and the other end  33  urged against a resilient member (e.g., spring or elastic piece)  34 . The ends  32  and  33  move rightward to compress the resilient member  34  when the touch pad assembly  20  pivots to close CD-ROM drive  40 . Also, the inclined end  32  moves leftward into the mated lock member  26  (i.e., hole) by the expansion of the resilient member  34  for locking immediately after the CD-ROM drive  40  is closed by the touch pad assembly  20 . In a rightward sliding of the sliding lock (i.e., the button  31 ) the inclined end  32  clears from the mated lock member  26  (i.e., hole) for unlocking the touch pad assembly  20 . Next, open the touch pad assembly  20  to position at an angle with respect to the manipulating section  13  by pivoting (see  FIG. 2 ). The constructions of both the mated lock member  26  and the lock member  30  described in the embodiment are not limitative, it is appreciated by those skilled in the art that other modifications or alternations thereof are made possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.  
         [0016]     In the embodiment, a touch control circuit board  21  is provided in the touch pad assembly  20  adjacent the positioning plate  25  (see  FIG. 2 ). A cable  202  is extended from the touch control circuit board  21  into interior circuitry of the display  10  for sending information to the display  10  for showing.  
         [0017]     By disposing the CD-ROM drive  40  under the touch pad assembly  20  by the invention, it is possible of eliminating the prior problems of hindering the opening of the CD-ROM drive  40  at one side of the housing  11  and/or damaging the same by the mouse, the cable, and the flash drive. Moreover, it can save precious internal space of the housing  11 .  
         [0018]     While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

Technology Category: 3