Portable apparatus removable top cover covering functional component

• US 6,198,626 B1
• Filed: 06/26/1998
• Issued: 03/06/2001
• 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:
  US09/105,177
• Time in Patent Office: 984 Days
• Field of Search: 361/680-683, 361/686
• US Class Current: 361/679.55
• 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 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 housing body including a lower housing and an upper housing coupled to said lower housing, said upper housing including a keyboard support section and an upwardly facing component attachment portion arranged at the back of the keyboard support section;

a keyboard mounted on said keyboard support section;

a functional component supported on said component attachment portion, said functional component having a rotatable shaft and a disk-shaped operation dial removably coupled to said rotatable shaft, and said operation dial having an outer peripheral surface having a relatively-large-diameter-flange portion;

a top cover removably supported on said housing body, said top cover having a panel that covers the component attachment portion, said panel including 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 panel overlaping with said flange portion in a circumference of said through-hole, and said panel and said component attachment portion sandwiching said flange portion;

a display unit supported on said housing body and movable between a first position at which said display unit covers said keyboard and said top cover and a second position at which said display unit exposes said keyboard and said top cover.