Portable computing device

• US 8,339,775 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2011
• Issued: 12/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Degner, Brett W., Abraham, Euan, Brock, John M., Casebolt, Matthew P., Coish, Robert L., DeForest, Laura M., Goldberg, Michelle, Hamel, Bradley Joseph, Hopkinson, Ron, Hwang, Jim, Kalinowski, Caitlin E., Keiper, Steven, Kessler, Patrick, Ligtenberg, Chris, Osborn, Jay K., Raff, John, Rundle, Nicholas A., Yeh, David J., Kim, Eugene
• Primary Examiner(s): Gandhi, Jayprakash N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wu, Jerry
• Application Number:
  US13/339,325
• Publication Number:
  US 20120099264A1
• Time in Patent Office: 363 Days
• Field of Search: 361/679.17, 361/679.3, 36167931-67939, 36167934-67941, 361/679.09, 361/369, 361/75.1, 361/75.2, 369/75.11, 369/75.21, 369/76, 369/77.11, 369/77.21, 369/78, 369/79, 369/80, 369/81, 369/82, 439/60, 439151-160, 439/327, 439/328, 439/331
• US Class Current: 361/679.09
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 35/06 Specially-shaped heads special shape in order to rotate the bolt F16B23/00 ; separate hook adaptors for bolts F16B43/025
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 41/005 Measures against unauthorised operation of bolts, nuts or pins F16B23/0007, F16B23/0061, F16B23/0069, F16B23/0076 and F16B31/02 take precedence; locks, keys E05B; for valves, taps or cocks F16K35/00; for pipe-joints with swivel-nuts F16L19/005
• 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 1/1658 related to the mounting of internal components, e.g. disc drive or any other functional module
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1662 Details related to the integrated keyboard
• 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 1/181 Enclosures for portable computers G06F1/1613
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/187 Mounting of fixed and removable disk drives
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 5/0008 assembled by screws
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 5/0217 Mechanical details of casings covers, lids, hoods or members for covering apertures H05K5/03
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49002 Electrical device making

Abstract

A portable computing device includes at least a base portion of a lightweight material that includes at least a wedge shaped top case having a trough formed at an interfacing edge thereof. The trough includes a raised portion having a first contact surface and a receiving area, and a bottom case coupled to the top case to form a complete housing for at least a portion of the portable computing device for enclosing at least a plurality of operational components and a plurality of structural components. The portable computing device also includes at least a lid portion pivotally connected to the base portion by a hinge assembly. In the described embodiments, the lid portion has a display in communication with one or more of the plurality of components in the base portion by way of or more electrical conductors that electrically connect the base portion to the lid portion.

Claims

1. A portable computing device, comprising:

a wedge shaped body comprising a first end and a tapered second end narrower than the first end, the wedge shaped body having an inclined top surface and formed from a lightweight material and configured to support and enclose a plurality of operational components wherein the plurality of operational components are fastened within the wedge shaped body in a top down manner using the inclined top surface as a reference datum to form an multi-planar arrangement of components that conforms to the overall shape of the wedge shaped body and the inclination of the inclined top surface resulting in the portable computing device having a thin profile and high component packing density, the wedge shaped body further configured to present one or more user input components at an angle to an end user of the portable computing device, the user input components presented at the angle to the end user comprising;

a keyboard assembly, the keyboard assembly comprising a keyboard having a plurality of user pressable key pads only one of which is a consolidated power on/off key pad, the power/on off key pad arranged to power on/power off the portable computing device in response to a received key press, and

a touch pad located within and proximate a touch pad opening in the wedge shaped body in proximity to the tapered second end, the touch pad being adapted to accept touch inputs from the end user of the portable computing device and having a support structure that accommodates the wedge shape of the wedge shaped body;

a bottom cover having a uniform height and formed of the lightweight material, wherein the wedge shaped body and the bottom cover are secured to each other by way of a plurality of tamper resistant fasteners to form a complete housing for at least a portion of the portable computing device;

a lid portion, the lid portion comprising a display assembly arranged to present visual content; and

a hinge assembly having a size and shape that fits within the first end of the wedge shaped body, the hinge assembly arranged to pivotally connect the complete housing and the lid portion, wherein one or more electrical conductors electrically connect at least some of the operational components in the complete housing to the display assembly at least one of which is carried in the hinge assembly.

2. The portable computing device as recited in claim 1 wherein at least one of the operational components is a solid state memory module, the solid state memory module comprising:

a substrate having a top side and a bottom side;

a first plurality of memory devices arranged linearly on the top side of the substrate;

a second plurality of memory devices arranged linearly on the bottom side of the substrate;

a controller linearly arranged in accordance with the first and second plurality of memory devices and arranged to provide control signals to the first and second plurality of memory devices; and

a set of contacts located along one edge of the substrate, the contacts being adapted to interface with a high speed connector coupled to a motherboard of the portable computing device, where the set of contacts are separated into at least two groups by a physical gap located between the separated groups.

3. The portable computing device as recited in claim 2, wherein the overall combined thickness of the module at all locations remains less than about 2.2 mm, wherein the plurality of memory devices are arranged along both the top side and the bottom side of the substrate.

4. The portable computing device as recited in claim 1, the keyboard assembly further comprising:

a steel feature plate used to support the plurality of key pads; and

an aluminum web situated between each of the plurality of key pads, the aluminum webbing being integrally formed with the top case and attached to the steel feature plate by way of at least one rivet.

5. The portable computing device as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of wings located along the sides of the touch pad and adapted to keep the touch pad within the top case.

6. The portable computing device as recited in claim 1, the top case comprising:

a trough and a shoulder formed around a circumference of the top case at an interfacing edge thereof, wherein the trough includes a first wall, a bottom portion, and a second wall that forms the shoulder, with both walls rising above the bottom portion to form the trough, and wherein the shoulder includes a raised portion having a first contact surface.

7. The portable computing device as recited in claim 6, the bottom case comprising:

a second contact surface formed around a circumference of the bottom case with at least a portion of the second contact surface contacting the first contact surface, and a leading edge that is spaced apart from both the first wall and bottom of the trough by gaps there between, wherein the area of contact between the first and second contact surfaces defines a plane that is non-parallel to a horizontal plane generally defined by the portable computing device.

8. The portable computing device as recited in claim 7, wherein the gap between the leading edge of the bottom case and the first wall of the trough ranges from about 0.11 to 0.62 inches.

9. The portable computing device as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of battery cells in a mirror image arrangement in proximity to the bottom case.

10. The portable computing device as recited in claim 9 wherein the plurality of battery cells includes battery cells of different sizes.

11. The portable computing device as recited in claim 10, wherein the plurality of battery cells are coupled to and controlled by a battery management unit (BMU).

12. The portable computing device as recited in claim 11, wherein the BMU is a distributed BMU.

13. The portable computing device as recited in claim 2 wherein the high speed connector comprises:

an insulative shield arranged to cover at least a top portion and a back portion of the high speed connector and having a front side opening for receiving at least the portion of the memory module including the set of contacts and at least one opening for visually determining that the portion of the memory module including the set of contacts is properly inserted into the high speed connector, wherein when the insulative shield is connected to a ground contact, the insulative shield acts as a ground plane improving signal integrity between the memory module and components on a printed circuit board connected thereto.

14. The portable computing device as recited in claim 13, the high speed connector further comprising:

a plurality of contacts each comprising a first portion used to make electrical contact with a corresponding contact on a printed circuit board, and a second portion aligned with the first portion arranged to make contact with a corresponding one of the set of contacts of the memory module when the memory module is inserted into the high speed connector to form a high speed communication channel between the memory module and components on the printed circuit board.

15. The portable computing device as recited in claim 14, wherein the insulative shield comprises a first portion and a second portion each of which is connected to one or more ground contacts to improve the effectiveness of the resulting ground plane.

16. The portable computing device as recited in claim 15, the high speed connector further comprising:

at least one contact comprising a third portion aligned with the first portion and parallel to a bottom of the high speed connector, the third portion providing at least mechanical stability to the high speed connector.

17. The portable computing device as recited in claim 16, the insulative shield further comprising at least one tab used to provide mechanical support for the high speed connector on the printed circuit board.

18. The portable computing device as recited in claim 17, wherein the at least one tab includes conductive material used to form an electrical connection between the insulative shield and a ground on the printed circuit board thereby improving the effectiveness of the ground plane provided by the insulative shield.

19. The portable computing device as recited in claim 18, wherein at least a portion of the at least one tab is formed of an insulative material used to insulate the conductive material.

20. The portable computing device as recited in claim 1, wherein the memory module has an overall length ranging from about 108 to 110 mm, an overall width ranging from about 23 to 25 mm, and a substrate thickness ranging from about 0.6 to 0.8 mm

21. The portable computing device of claim 2, wherein the set of contacts carry signals in the following specific order:

22. The portable computing device as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a low Z thermal module arranged to remove waste heat generated by a component in the portable computing device, the low Z thermal module comprising;

a stage in thermal and mechanical contact with the waste heat generating component,

a heat pipe in thermal and mechanical contact with the waste heat generating component by way of the stage, the heat pipe arranged to receive and transport the waste heat away from the waste heat generating component, and

a heat exchanger in mechanical and thermal contact with the heat pipe, wherein the waste heat generated by the waste heat generating component is transferred through the stage to heat cooler coolant material in the heat pipe, the heated coolant material being transported to the heat exchanger, wherein the heat exchanger removes the waste heat from the heated coolant material and returns the cooler coolant material to the heat generating component for further waste heat uptake.

23. The portable computing device as recited in claim 22, wherein the waste heat removed from the heated coolant material exits from the portable computing device by way of a vent located in a rear portion of the top case.

24. The portable computing device as recited in claim 22, wherein the stage is a reduced thickness spring stage having a substantially uniform thickness, the spring stage acting as both the stage and a beam and spring.

25. The portable computing device as recited in claim 22, wherein the heat exchanger comprises a plurality of cooling fins arranged in a fin stack.

26. The portable computing device as recited in claim 1, the wedge shaped body further comprising:

a plurality of openings arranged to receive the user input components presented at the angle to the end user comprising a keyboard assembly opening and a touch pad assembly opening, wherein during an assembly operation, the keyboard assembly and the touch pad assembly are received at the keyboard assembly opening and touch pad assembly opening, respectively, prior to installation of any other of the plurality of operational components.