Touch pad adjustment

• US 10,234,967 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2014
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Huang, Chin-Hung
• Primary Examiner(s): Lao, Lunyi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Suteerawongsa, Jarurat
• Application Number:
  US15/516,461
• Publication Number:
  US 20180232072A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,590 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface

Abstract

Examples of adjustment of a touch pad are disclosed herein. One example includes a touch pad adjacent an edge of an opening defined by a housing of an electronic device and a bracket to secure a first side of the touch pad to the housing adjacent the edge. This example also includes an adjustment mechanism to selectively move a first corner and a second corner of the touch pad that are opposite the first side in either a direction toward or away from a front surface of the housing so that the first and second corners are substantially flush will the adjacent edge.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a touch pad adjacent an edge of an opening defined by a housing of an electronic device, wherein the touch pad comprises a first corner and a second corner;

a bracket to secure a first side of the touch pad to the housing adjacent the edge, wherein the first corner and the second corner are opposite the first side of the touch pad; and

an adjustment mechanism to adjust a mounting of the touch pad relative to a front surface of the housing, wherein the adjustment mechanism comprises;

a first part to selectively adjust the mounting of the touch pad to move the first corner of the touch pad toward or away from the front surface of the housing so that the first corner is substantially flush with the front surface of the housing; and

a second part to, independently from the movement of the first corner of the touch pad, selectively adjust the mounting of the touch pad to move the second corner of the touch pad toward or away from the front surface of the housing so that the second corner is substantially flush with the front surface of the housing.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bracket creates a hinge to allow the movement of the first corner of the touch pad and to allow the movement of the second corner of the touch pad.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the adjustment mechanism is adjacent a back surface of the housing.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the adjustment mechanism includes a first ramp on a back surface of the housing adjacent the edge and a second ramp on the back surface of the housing adjacent the edge.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the adjustment mechanism also includes a first shim having a first end slideably coupled to the first ramp and a second end slideably coupled to the touch pad and a second shim having a first end slideably coupled to the second ramp and a second end slideably coupled to the touch pad.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein movement of the first end of the first shim along the first ramp in a first direction causes the first corner to move toward the front surface of the housing and movement of the first end of the first shim along the first ramp in a second direction causes the first corner to move away from the front surface of the housing, and further wherein movement of the first end of the second shim along the second ramp in a third direction causes the second corner to move away from the front surface of the housing and movement of the first end of the second shim along the second ramp in a fourth direction causes the second corner to move toward the front surface of the housing.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein an incline of the first ramp increases in a direction away from the first corner and an incline of the second ramp increases in a direction away from the second corner.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the adjustment mechanism additionally includes a first holder plate on a back surface of the touch pad in which the second end of the first shim is slideably disposed and a second holder plate on the back surface of the touch pad in which the second end of second shim is slideably disposed.

9. An adjustment mechanism comprising:

a first ramp;

a second ramp;

a first shim slideably coupled to the first ramp and a touch pad of an electronic device so that movement of the first shim along the first ramp in a first direction causes a first corner of the touch pad to move toward a front surface of a housing of the electronic device and movement of the first shim along the first ramp in a second direction causes the first corner to move away from the front surface of the housing, wherein an incline of the first ramp increases in the second direction; and

a second shim slideably coupled to the second ramp and the touch pad so that movement of the second shim along the second ramp in a third direction causes a second corner of the touch pad to move away from the front surface of the housing and movement of the second shim along the second ramp in a fourth direction causes the second corner to move toward the front surface of the housing, wherein an incline of the second ramp increases in the fourth direction.

10. The adjustment mechanism of claim 9, wherein the first ramp includes a first stop to limit movement of the first shim in the first direction and a second stop to limit movement of the first shim in the second direction, and further wherein the second ramp includes a third stop to limit movement of the second shim in the third direction and a fourth stop to limit movement of the second shim in the fourth direction.

11. The adjustment mechanism of claim 9, wherein the first ramp and the second ramp are on a back surface of the housing.

12. The adjustment mechanism of claim 9, further comprising:

a first holder plate on a back surface of the touch pad to slideably couple the first shim to the touch pad; and

a second holder plate on the back surface of the touch pad to slideably couple the second shim to the touch pad.

13. The adjustment mechanism of claim 9, wherein the first shim includes a first biasing member having a first end slideably coupled to the first ramp and a second end slideably coupled to the touch pad, and further wherein the second shim includes a second biasing member having a first end slideably coupled to the second ramp and a second end slideably coupled to the touch pad.

14. A method comprising:

installing a touch pad of an electronic device adjacent an edge of an opening defined by a housing of the electronic device, wherein the touch pad comprises a first corner and a second corner;

securing a first side of the touch pad to the housing adjacent the edge, wherein the first corner and the second corner are opposite the first side of the touch pad; and

actuating an adjustment mechanism to adjust a mounting of the touch pad to cause the first and second corners to be substantially flush with the adjacent edge of the opening defined by the housing of the electronic device, wherein adjusting the adjustment mechanism comprises;

selectively actuating a first part of the adjustment mechanism to move the first corner of the touch pad toward or away from the first surface of the housing so that the first corner of the touch pad is substantially flush with the adjacent edge of the opening; and

selectively actuating a second part of the adjustment mechanism to, independently from the movement of the first corner of the touch pad, move the second corner of the touch pad toward or away from the front surface of the housing to cause the second corner to be substantially flush with the adjacent edge of the opening.