Portable apparatus with removable top cover covering functional component

• US 5,808,861 A
• Filed: 07/31/1996
• Issued: 09/15/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakajima, Yuji, Wada, Kohei, Hisano, Kenji
• Primary Examiner(s): FEILD, LYNN DIANA
• Application Number:
  US08/688,846
• Time in Patent Office: 776 Days
• Field of Search: 361/680, 361/681, 361/683, 361/686, 361/724-727, 361/679
• US Class Current: 361/679.27
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/052 Pneumatic spring characteristics B60G17/048 takes precedence ; valves per se F16K
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0528 Pressure regulating or air filling valves
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2202/152 Pneumatic spring
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2500/204 Pressure regulating valves for air-springs
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/02 Retarders, delaying means, dead zones, threshold values, cut-off frequency, timer interruption
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1635 Details related to the integration of battery packs and other power supplies such as fuel cells or integrated AC adapter
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1656 Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1658 related to the mounting of internal components, e.g. disc drive or any other functional module
• 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: G06F 1/1688 the I/O peripheral being integrated loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/184 Mounting of motherboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/187 Mounting of fixed and removable disk drives

Abstract

A portable apparatus comprises a box-shaped housing body. The housing body includes a lower housing and an upper housing coupled to the lower housing. The upper housing includes a component attachment portion opened upward. A functional the component such as a speaker is removably supported on the component attachment portion of the upper housing. A top cover is removably supported on the housing body. The top cover covers the component attachment portion and the functional component supported on the component attachment portion.

Claims

1. A portable apparatus comprising:

a box-shaped housing body including a lower housing having a bottom wall and a rear wall continuous with the bottom wall, and an upper housing coupled to the lower housing, said upper housing including a component attachment portion opened upward;

a functional component removably supported on said component attachment portion of said housing body;

a display unit having a support portion extending toward the component attachment portion of said housing body;

hinge means for rotatably supporting the display unit on said housing body, said hinge means being situated adjacent to said component attachment portion; and

a top cover removably attached to said housing body, said top cover covering the component attachment portion and the functional component supported on said component attachment portion,

wherein said component attachment portion of the housing body includes a cover portion covering the support portion of the display unit from below, and being continuous with the rear wall of the lower housing, and

said top cover includes a hinge cover portion covering the hinge means, said hinge cover portion being continuous with said cover portion when said top cover is attached to said housing body.

2. The portable apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said component attachment portion extends in the width direction of the housing body, and the length of the component attachment portion in the width direction is equal to the length of the housing body in the width direction.

3. The portable apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said top cover has a panel facing said component attachment portion, and said panel cooperates with said component attachment portion in clamping and holding said functional component.

4. The portable apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said hinge means includes a first hinge metal fixing and a second hinge metal fixing, said first and second hinge metal fixings are spaced apart in the width direction of the component attachment portion, and said functional component is situated between the first and second hinge metal fixings.

5. The portable apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said housing body including the component attachment portion is formed of a synthetic resin, each of said first and second hinge metal fixings includes a metallic bracket extending in the depth direction of the housing body, said bracket of the first hinge metal fixing is fixed to the component attachment portion, and said bracket of the second hinge metal fixing is fixed to the upper housing.

6. The portable apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a metallic frame contained within said housing body, and a circuit board supported on said frame, said circuit board facing said component attachment portion, and said functional component being electrically connected to said circuit board.

7. The portable apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said frame includes a first receiving portion for receiving the bracket of said first hinge metal fixing and a second receiving portion for receiving the bracket of said second hinge metal fixing, said first and second receiving portions are fixed to the bracket by screws.

8. The portable apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a keyboard support section formed in said upper housing, said keyboard support section being continuous with said component attachment portion in front of said component attachment portion, and a keyboard supported on said keyboard support section.

9. The portable apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said keyboard comprises a number of keys and a support panel for supporting said keys, said keyboard support section includes a bottom wall for supporting said support panel and a peripheral wall surrounding the support panel, and said top cover includes a wall to be interposed between said keyboard support section and said component attachment portion when said top cover is attached to the housing body, said wall cooperating with the bottom wall of the keyboard support section in clamping the support panel and holding the keyboard in the keyboard support section.

10. The portable apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said functional component is a speaker, and said panel of the top cover has a cover attachment portion having a hole facing said speaker, a net-like speaker cover attached to the cover attachment portion and covering said hole, and a blind member formed of felt and interposed between said speaker cover and said cover attachment portion, said blind member being attached to the cover attachment portion.

11. The portable apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said functional component is a switch including a shaft rotatably supported on said circuit board and a disk-shaped operation dial removably coupled to said shaft, said operation dial of the switch includes an outer peripheral surface having a relatively-large-diameter flange portion, and said panel of the top cover includes a circular through-hole through which the operation dial is passed and a guide wall situated around said through-hole and surrounding the flange portion, said shaft and said operation dial being coupled movably in the radial direction of said shaft.

12. A portable apparatus comprising:

a box-shaped housing body having an upper wall, said upper wall of the housing body having a component attachment portion opened upward;

first and second speakers removably supported on said component attachment portion of the housing body, said speakers being arranged on both sides of a center line extending in the depth direction of the housing body through the center of the housing body in the width direction, and a distance between said first speaker and said center line being different from a distance between said second speaker and said center line; and

a top cover removably supported on said housing body, said top cover covering the component attachment portion and the first and second speakers;

wherein said top cover includes a panel having a pair of holes facing said first and second speakers, and first and second speaker covers attached to the panel and covering said holes, each of said first and second speaker covers having a shape greater than an opening shape of each of said holes and extending in the width direction of said housing body, and a distance between said first speaker cover and said center line being equal to a distance between said second speaker cover and said center line.

13. The portable apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising:

a blind member interposed between said panel and each of said speaker covers, said blind member being formed of felt and attached to said panel.