Keyboard Slide Structure With Removable Palm Rest and Slide Rail Means

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a keyboard slide structure, and more particularly to a keyboard slide having a removable palm rest and provided with a sliding mouse pad and slide rail means.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

Existing computer desks are generally provided with a keyboard slide on which the keyboard may be placed. For computer users who have to key in for prolonged periods of time, the hands will easily feel tired and, worse still, the hand joints may be hurt. As a result, multimedia keyboards with palm rests are developed. However, this kind of multimedia keyboards are space-occupying and not collapsible. Besides, they are costly to manufacture. Therefore, standard computer keyboards are more popular. Improvements on the existing art are therefore necessary.

Furthermore, in known computer desks, there is not a particular space particularly designed for the mouse, digitizer or the like so that such items are often scatteredly placed on the computer desks, which is very untidy.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard slide structure with a removable palm rest to eliminate the drawbacks in the prior art.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a slide rail means for connecting a keyboard with a sliding mouse pad.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which,

FIG. 1 is an elevational exploded view of a keyboard slide of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of an adjusting element of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic bottom view of the keyboard slide of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic elevational exploded view of a sliding mouse pad of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of a stop piece of the invention, and

FIG. 6 is a schematic elevational view of the keyboard slide with the sliding mouse pad of the invention in an assembled state.

With reference to the drawings, the slide keyboard structure according to the present invention essentially comprises a keyboard slide 1, a palm rest means 2, two side plates 3, an adjusting element 4, a sliding mouse pad 5 and a slide rail means 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, the keyboard slide 1 is a planar structure having a top side 11 provided with a plurality of holes 12 at a front edge thereof for insertable connection with the palm rest means 2 and two lateral indentations 13 having a plurality of locking holes 131 for fastening with a conventional slide rail means before the keyboard slide 1 is secured to a computer desk in a retractable manner. The lateral indentations 13 are respectively provided with a plurality of fastening slots 132 for fastening of the side plates 3 thereto. Two raised portions 14 are further provided on both lateral sides of the keyboard slide 1 to serve as limits for a keyboard placed on the keyboard slide 1. And in order to prevent the keyboard from displacing on the top side 11 of the keyboard slide 1, a plurality of equally spaced apart horizontal surface ribs 15 are formed on the top side 11. Besides, an adjusting hole 16 is provided at a central rear portion of the top side 11 for preventing the keyboard from displacing to the rear. As shown in FIG. 3, the adjusting hole 16 has a bottom side thereof provided with a plurality of corrugated teeth 161 at a front portion. The adjusting hole 16 is further provided with two side flanges 162 for connection with the adjusting element 4 so that the adjusting element 4 may displace forwardly or backwardly therein. If it is not desired to use the above-mentioned conventional slide rail means and it is desired to use a retractable rod, the bottom side of the keyboard slide 1 may be provided with a plurality of symmetrical locking posts 17 respectively having holes for lockable connection therewith. In addition, the indentations 13 may be secured with the side plates 3 respectively by means of the fastening slots 132 to achieve a pleasing appearance.

Furthermore, a depression 18 is provided at a central front portion of the top side 11 of the keyboard slide 1 to allow users to place small items like pens and pencils therein.

The palm rest means 2 comprises an elongated curved palm rest 22, a plurality of snap hooks 21 at the front side of the palm rest 22 for fitting into the holes 12 of the keyboard slide 1. A recess 23 is made at the top side of the palm rest 22 in the middle for users to place small items therein as well. Two lugs 231 are disposed at a rear edge of the recess 23 so that a cover 24 having two holes 241 at a front edge thereof may be positioned in place on the recess 23 such that the cover 24 may be opened or closed. The palm rest 22 may be respectively provided with a soft pad to provide comfort to the user.

In actual use, if the the palm rest 22 is not fastened to the top side 11 of the keyboard 1, a multimedia keyboard with palm rest means may be placed thereon. And when the palm rest 22 is positioned in place, the top side 11 may support a standard keyboard.

The side plates 3 have a size corresponding to the size of the indentations 13 respectively. Each side plate 3 has a plurality of lugs 31 for fitting into the fastening slots 132 so that, after the side plates 3 are positioned in place, the upper sides thereof align with the upper sides of the raised portions 14 on both lateral sides of the top side 11 of the keyboard slide 1.

With reference to FIG. 2, the adjusting element 4 is a substantially L-shaped plate having a size matching that of the adjusting hole 16 so that it may fit thereinto. The adjusting element 4 has a stop piece 41 at a rear end thereof which is larger than the adjusting hole 16 and may abut a rear side of the keyboard. At least one snap hook 42 is provided to extend from a lower portion of the adjusting element 4 for engaging the side flanges 162 of the adjusting hole 16 so that the adjusting element 4 may displace within the adjusting hole 16. Besides, a raised portion 43 is provided at a front end of the adjusting element 14 for engaging the teeth 161 of the adjusting hole 16 for positioning purposes.

Furthermore, the sliding mouse pad 5 may be arranged at one of the lateral sides of the keyboard slide 1 by means of the slide rail means 6 connecting the sliding mouse pad 5 to the bottom side of the keyboard slide 1 so that the sliding mouse pad 5 may operate in a retractable manner. A mouse, digitizer, glide-point or the like may be placed on the sliding mouse pad as desired.

With reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, the bottom side of the keyboard slide 1 is provided with a plurality of hollow posts 19 at the front and rear edges thereof for connection with the slide rail means 6.

The sliding mouse pad 5 is a substantially planar plate of a suitable size so that it may be placed between the two hollow posts near one of the lateral sides of the bottom side of the keyboard slide 1. The sliding mouse pad 5 has an upper surface 51 for placement of the mouse or glide point or the like and a bottom side provided with a plurality of mounting holes 52 at its front and rear edges for locking with the slide rail means 6. The sliding mouse pad 5 further has a projecting border 53 at the outermost end thereof to facilitate pulling of the sliding mouse pad 5 from the keyboard slide 1.

The slide rail means 6 consists of two fixed rails 61 and two slide rails 62. The fixed rails 61 are substantially L-shaped plates and are fastened to the bottom side of the keyboard slide 1 such that they face opposite directions and locked to the hollow posts 19 at the front and rear edges of the bottom side of the keyboard slide 1 at the right or left side of the keyboard slide 1. Each fixed rail 61 has a vertical section 611 provided with a horizontal slide slot 612 so that the slide rails 62 may displace between the slide slots 612 of the fixed rails 61. Each slide slot 612 has two holes 613 disposed respectively at its ends for receiving two stop pieces 63 respectively for restricting the displacement of the slide rails 62.

The slide rails 62 are substantially L-shaped plates as well. They are locked to the mounting holes 52 on the bottom side of the sliding mouse pad 5 such that they are located at the front and the rear edges of the sliding mouse pad 5. A horizontal section of each slide rail 62 has two or more than two projections 621 extending therefrom for fitting into a plurality of rollers 64 of corresponding size. Each roller 64 has a flange 641 of a larger size so that the flange 641 abuts the inner rim of the slide slot 612 when the rollers 64 are placed in the respective slide slots 612 and will not slip off the slide slots 612. By means of the above-described arrangement, the mouse side 5 may be retractably pulled outwardly or pushed inwardly under the keyboard slide 1.

The above-mentioned stop pieces 63 are made of elastic material and are provided with at least one raised portion 631 at an inner edge thereof. A stop portion 632 is disposed at an outer edge thereof such that the distance between the raised portion 631 and the stop portion 632 is equivalent to the thickness of the fixed rails 61. The stop portion 632 has a stop end 634 and an oblique nose 633 formed at an inner side thereof and the nose 633 may fit smoothly into the hole 613 of the slide slot 612 so that the stop portions 632 may be easily slip off the fixed rails 62. When the roller 64 touches the stop portion 632, the stop portion 632 will be pressed downwardly so that the roller 64 may pass over the stop end 634 to fit into the slide slot 612. Thereafter, the stop portion 632 will reset to its original position with its stop end 634 urging against the roller 64 for positioning purposes.

Advantages of employing the present invention may be summarized as follows:

1. The configuration of the keyboard slide 1 of the present invention may be selectively used with a multimedia keyboard or a standard keyboard after the palm rest 2 of the invention is secured in place. In addition the raised portions 14 and the adjusting element 4 allows the keyboard placed on the keyboard slide 1 to be properly positioned.

2. The keyboard slide 1 may be used in conjunction with conventional slide rail devices or retractable devices, and the side plates 3 may cover up the indentations 13 to enhance the appearance of the keyboard slide 1.

3. The arrangement of the depression 18 and the recess 23 provides space for the user to store small items.

4. A sliding mouse pad 5 may be retractably connected to the keyboard slide 1 for placement of the mouse, digitizer, glide-point or the like.

5. The sliding mouse pad 5 may be arranged at either the left or the right side of the keyboard slide 1.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it should be understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.