LATCH FOR A COMPUTER CASE

• US 20150220108A1
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Published: 08/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Lev, Jeffrey A., Tsai, Chia-Ming, Lim, Hui Leng
• Granted Patent: US 9,851,745 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/16 Constructional details or arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1679 for locking or maintaining the movable parts of the enclosure in a fixed position, e.g. latching mechanism at the edge of the display in a laptop or for the screen protective cover of a PDA G06F1/1681 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 5/0221 Locks; Latches
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49895 Associating parts by use of aligning means [e.g., use of a drift pin or a "fixture"]

Abstract

A latch is disclosed. The latch has a hook that rotates to engage with a case for a computer. The hook has one side fabricated from a ferrous material. The hook is unlatched by placing a magnet near the ferrous material thereby causing the hook to rotate and disengage with the top case.

Claims

1. A computer, comprising:

a first case and a second case that removably mate together to form an enclosure;

a shaft attached to the first case;

a hook rotatably coupled to the shaft and having an open position and a latched position, the hook including a first side and a second side;

wherein the first side of the hook is engaged with a hole formed in a side wall of the second case when the hook is in the latched position and the top and first cases are mated, and where the first side of the hook is disengaged with the hole when the hook is in the open position; and

the second side of the hook is formed of a ferrous material and located adjacent to a side wall of the first case, wherein the hook rotates to the open position when a magnet is positioned on an outside of the side wall of the first case, near the second side of the hook.

2. The computer of claim 1, wherein the first side of the latch is positioned in a recess in the first case when the latch is in the latched position and the top and first cases are mated.

3. The computer of claim 1, wherein the side wall of the first case does not have an opening through the side wall in the area adjacent to the latch.

4. The computer of claim 1, further comprising:

a coil spring coupled to the shaft and forcing the hook towards the closed position.

5. The computer of claim 1, wherein the side wall of the second case is between 0.5 and 3 mm in thickness and the side wall of the first case is between 0.5 and 3 mm in thickness.

6. The computer of claim 1, wherein the side wall of the second case and the side wall of the first case are fabricated from a non-ferrous material.

7. The computer of claim 1, wherein at least one computer component is enclosed by the second case and the first case when the cases are mated, where the computer component is selected from the group of computer components consisting of:

a mother board, memory, a hard disk drive, a DVD drive, and an I/O card.

8. The computer of claim 1, wherein the second case is attached to the first case along one edge of the first case with a hinge.

9. The computer of claim 1, further comprising:

a mark or target on an outside of the side wall of the first case that indicates where a magnet should be located to rotate the hook into the open position.

10. The computer of claim 1, wherein the computer is a notebook computer.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

attaching a coil spring to the shaft that forces the hook towards the closed position.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

marking a position on an outside of the side wall of the first case that indicates where a magnet should be located to rotate the hook into the open position.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the first side of the latch is positioned in a recess in the first case when the latch is in the latched position and the top and first cases are mated.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

installing at least one computer component into the first case, where the computer component is selected from the group of computer components consisting of;

a mother board, memory, a hard disk drive, a DVD drive, and an I/O card.

11. A method of manufacturing a computer, comprising

forming a first case with a side wall fabricated from a non-ferrous material;

forming a second case with a side wall fabricated from a non-ferrous material wherein the first case and the second case removably mate together to form an enclosure;

attaching a latch to the first case where the latch comprises;

a shaft and a hook rotatably attached to the shaft, where the hook can rotate between and open position and a latched position, the hook having a first side and a second side;

wherein the first side of the hook is engaged with a hole formed in the side wall of the second case when the hook is in the latched position and the first and second cases are mated, and where the first side of the hook is disengaged with the hole when the hook is in the open position; and

the second side of the hook formed of a ferrous material and located adjacent to the side wall of the first case, wherein the hook rotates to the open position when a magnet is positioned on an outside of the side wall of the first case, near the second side of the hook.