Assembly structure of display of electronic appliance

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to an assembly structure of a display of an electronic appliance, and more particularly, to an assembly structure of a display of an electronic appliance capable of being attached to and detached from a main body.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] In general, a main body and display are integrated in a portable electronic appliance having a display, such as a notebook computer, web video phone, and digital video camera.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional notebook computer as an example of an electronic appliance having a display. As shown in FIG. 1, a notebook computer comprises a main body 1 equipped with a computer system, and a displaying 3 for display images according to an image signal from the main body 1.

[0007] The main body 1 is provided with an input device such as a keyboard and mouse capable of inputting operation instructions, peripheral devices such as a hard disk drive, CD-ROM drive, modem and LAN card, a sound device for reproducing audio information, etc. The display 3, as an output device for outputting information from the main body 1 in the form of images, is hinged to a side of the main body 1 to be opened and closed, and is electrically connected to the main body 1 by ribbon type cables 5.

[0008] In the electronic appliance having a display so configured, since the display 3 is directly hinged to the main body 1, and is electrically connected to the main body 1 by ribbon type cables 5, the display 3 cannot be replaced by a user. That is, the display 3 cannot be replaced with a display having a higher resolution or a larger display area. Further, in such an electronic appliance there is a drawback in that when either the main body 1 or the display 3 malfunctions or reaches the end of its lifespan, the user cannot replace it easily.

[0009] To solve the above problems, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an assembly structure of a display of an electronic appliance capable of being attached and detached from a main body.

[0010] Accordingly, to achieve the above objective, there is provided an assembly structure of a display of an electronic appliance intended to be employed in an electronic appliance including a main body and a display for displaying an image according to an image signal input from the main body so as to facilitate the attachment and detachment of the display to and from the main body including: a fitting means formed at the main body and the display, respectively; and an optical connector provided at the main body and the display to be attached to the main body for transferring an image signal using light beams.

[0011] The above objective and advantage of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional notebook computer as an example of an electronic appliance having a display;

[0013] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a display assembly structure of an electronic appliance according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 3 is a section view of a portion of FIG. 2 in a detached state;

[0015] FIG. 4 is a section view of a portion of FIG. 2 in an attached state;

[0016] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a display assembly structure of an electronic appliance according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] FIG. 6 is an exploded view illustrating an optical connector as a part of a display assembly structure of an electronic appliance according to the present invention.

[0018] FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a display assembly structure of an electronic appliance according to a third embodiment of the present invention: and

[0019] FIGS. 8A and 8B show schematic diagrams illustrating display assembly structures of an electronic appliance according to further embodiments of the present invention.

[0020] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a display assembly structure of an electronic appliance according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a section view of a portion of FIG. 2 in a detached state, and FIG. 4 is a section view of a portion of FIG. 2 in an attached state. FIG. 2 shows a notebook computer as an example of an electronic appliance having a display.

[0021] As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, a display assembly structure of an electronic appliance is employed in an electronic appliance which includes a main body 10 and a display 20 for displaying an image signal from the main body 10. The display assembly structure of an electronic appliance comprises a fitting means 30 formed at the main body 10 and the display 20 so as to fit the display 20 to the main body 10, and an optical connector 50 for transferring an image signal by using light.

[0022] Here, a fitting hole 31 into which the display 20 is fitted is provided at the main body 10. The fitting means 30 includes a first electrode portion 35 installed at the main body 10 for one end of the first electrode portion 35 to be projected into the fitting hole 31, a fitting member 33 installed at the display 20 to be fitted into the fitting hole 31, and a second electrode portion 38 installed at the fitting member 33 and contacting the first electrode portion 35 when the fitting member 33 is fitted into the fitting hole 31.

[0023] The first electrode portion 35 comprises an electrode rod (or electrode bar) 36 slidably installed at the main body 10, and an elastic member 37 interposed between the main body 10 and the electrode rod 36 for elastically biasing one end of the electrode rod 36 to be projected into the fitting hole 31, and the second electrode portion 38 includes an electrode plate installed at the fitting member 33. Therefore, when the fitting member 33 is fitted into the fitting hole 31, the electrode rod 36 contacts the second electrode portion 38 by the elastic bias of the elastic member 37.

[0024] Although not shown, it should be understood that the first electrode portion 35 may be composed of an electrode plate and the second electrode portion 38 may be composed of an electrode rod and an elastic member, or both first and second electrode portions 35 and 38 may be composed of respective electrode rods and elastic members.

[0025] The fitting member 33 may be fixedly installed at the display 20 depending on the type and use of an electronic appliance, or attached to the display 20 by hinges as shown in FIG. 2.

[0026] In particular, in the case of a notebook computer, the fitting member 33 is attached to the display 20 by hinges 39, and the display 20 can be opened or closed by pivoting the display 20 with respect to the main body 10 in a state in which the fitting member 33 is fitted into the fitting hole 31.

[0027] In a second embodiment, the fitting means 30 may include a locking means 41 which can lock the fitting means 30 in the fitting hole 31, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0028] The locking means 41 includes a locking member 42 installed at at least one side of the fitting member 33 facing a respective side wall of the fitting hole 31 so that the locking member 42 can move into or out of the fitting member 33, a lock releasing button 43 installed at the fitting member 33 so as to be disposed outside of the fitting hole 31 when the fitting member 33 is fitted into the fitting hole 31 for releasing the fitting member 33 from the fitting hole 31, and a locking recess 44 formed at one side wall of the fitting hole 31 of the main body 10 for locking the locking member 42 in it. The locking member 42 is installed in the fitting member 33 while being biased to be projected toward the locking recess 44. When the fitting member 33 is fitted into the fitting hole 31, the locking member 42 is pressed inwardly by the side wall of fitting hole 31 and is locked in the locking recess 44 when the fitting member 33 reaches the locking recess 44. On the other hand, when the lock releasing button 43 is pressed, the locking member 42 is moved inwardly and released from the locking recess 44, and consequently, the fitting member 33 can be detached from the main body 31.

[0029] In addition, it is preferable that at least one guide means 45 for guiding the insertion of the fitting member 33 is formed at the fitting hole 31 and the fitting member 33 so as to prevent the fitting member 33 from loosely moving within the fitting hole 31.

[0030] The guide means 45 may comprise a guide projection 46 formed on the side wall of the fitting hole 31 of the main body 10, and a guide rail 47 inwardly formed on the fitting member 33 to correspond to the guide projection 46. Therefore, the loose movement of the fitting member 33 within the fitting hole 31 is prevented, and the first and second electrode portions 35 and 38 contact each other correctly and the optical connector 50 is arranged properly.

[0031] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, the optical connector 50 comprises first and second signal processing units 51 and 57, a semiconductor laser array 53 installed at the main body 10, and a photodetector array 56 in which each photodetector converts a received light beam into an electrical signal, independently.

[0032] The first signal processing unit 51 is installed in the main body 10, and converts an image signal output from the main body 10 into a driving signal of the semiconductor laser array 53.

[0033] The semiconductor laser array 53 is installed at the main body 10 to face one side wall of the fitting hole 31, is composed of a plurality of semiconductor lasers each independently irradiating a light beam according to a received driving signal. Here, it is preferable that the semiconductor laser array 53 is composed of a plurality of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers 55 emitting a light beam in a direction of the stack of semiconductor layers. In this case, the vertical cavity surface emitting laser array 53 may be arranged on a single substrate 54.

[0034] The photodetector array 56 is installed at the fitting member 33 to face the semiconductor laser array 53 and to be spaced from it at a distance. The photodetectors composing the photodetector array 56 are provided to correspond to the semiconductor lasers 55 in number, receive light beams emitted from the corresponding semiconductor lasers 55, and convert the light beams into respective electrical signals to be output. Here, it is preferable that the photodetector array 56 is composed of phototransistors or photodiodes. Since the phototransistors and the photodiodes in themselves are well-known the detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0035] The second signal processing unit 57 is installed within the fitting member 33 or the display 20, and converts the electrical signals output from the photodetector array into image signals for the display 20.

[0036] In a third embodiment as shown in FIG. 7, a semiconductor laser array 53′ and a photodetector array 55′ which compose an optical connector 50′ are disposed at the bottom sides 31aand 33aof the fitting hole 31 and the fitting member 33 to face each other so as to emit and receive light beams in a direction of the insertion of the fitting member 33. In this case, when the fitting member 33 is attached to the fitting hole 31, since there is an assembly tolerance in a direction of the light beam traveling, a decrease in the illuminance on the photodetector and the light interference between neighboring photodetectors can be reduced.

[0037] Referring to FIG. 8A, an optical connector 60 according to another embodiment of the present invention comprises first and second signal processing units 61 and 75, a semiconductor laser array 63 installed at the main body 10, a photodetector array 73 in which each photodetector converts a received light beam into an electrical signal, independently, and an optical fiber bundle 71 for transferring the optical signals emitted from the semiconductor laser array 63 to the photodetector array 73.

[0038] Here, the first signal processing unit 61 and the semiconductor laser array 63 are connected to each other by an electrical cable 62, image signals emitted from the semiconductor laser array 63 are directly transferred to the outside of the main body 10.

[0039] The photodetector array 73 is connected to the second signal processing unit 75 by an electrical cable 74, and is disposed near the second signal processing unit 75. This is intended to prevent the degradation of signals occurring when the signals are transferred via the electrical cable 74. In this case, when the assembly structure as shown in FIG. 3 is applied to the optical connector 60, it is difficult, due to the limitation of installation space, to dispose the photodetector array 73 so that the photodetector array 73 may receive directly light signals emitted from the semiconductor laser array 63. The optical fiber bundle 71 is employed for solving the problem of disposition. The optical fiber bundle 71 composed of a plurality of optical fibers is disposed between the photodetector array 73 and the semiconductor laser array 63 so as to optically transfer image signals of multi-channels therebetween.

[0040] Here, since the optical connection between the semiconductor laser array 63 and the optical fiber bundle 71 is embodied by assembling a fitting member (33 in FIG. 3) into a fitting hole (31 in FIG. 3) as described above detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

[0041] Thus, when the length of the electrical cable 74 between the photodetector array 73 and the second signal processing unit 75 is reduced by using the optical fiber bundle 71, the sensitivity of the current signal having a level of the order of micro-amperes and transferred via the electrical cable 74 can be enhanced.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 8B, an optical connector 60′ according to still another embodiment of the present invention comprises first and second signal processing units 61 and 75, a semiconductor laser array 63′ installed at the main body 10, a photodetector array 73 in which each photodetector converts a received light beam into an electrical signal, independently, and first and second optical fiber bundles 65 and 71 for transferring the optical signals emitted from the semiconductor laser array 63′ to the photodetector array 73.

[0043] The semiconductor laser array 63′ is disposed near the first signal processing unit 61, and is connected to the first signal processing unit 61 by a relatively shorter electrical cable 62′. The image signals emitted from the semiconductor laser array 63′ are transferred to the outside of the main body 10 via the first optical fiber bundle 65. In addition, the photodetector array 73 is connected to the second signal processing unit by the electrical cable 74 while being disposed near the second signal processing unit 75. The photodetector array 73 receives the image signals from the second optical fiber bundle 71 which is disposed to face one end of the first optical fiber bundle 65 at one end thereof and to face the photodetector array 73 at the other end thereof. Here, since the optical connection between the first and second optical fiber bundles 65 and 71 is embodied by assembling a fitting member (33 in FIG. 3) into a fitting hole (31 in FIG. 3) as described above, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

[0044] When the optical connector 60′ is configured as above, the sensitivity of the current signals transferred between the photodetector array 73 and the second signal processing unit 75 as well as the sensitivity of the current signals transferred between the first signal processing unit 61 and the semiconductor laser array 63′ can be enhanced.

[0045] Though not shown in drawings, the optical fiber bundle may be provided between the first signal processing unit 61 and the semiconductor laser array 63′ and the photodetector may be disposed to face the optical fiber bundle directly.

[0046] As described above, since in an assembly structure of a display of an electronic appliance according to the present invention, the display can be easily attached to a main body or detached from it, the display can be easily replaced with a display having a better resolution or a larger screen. When either the main body or the display malfunctions or reaches its use life, anyone of them can be replaced with ease. In addition, since an image signal is transferred by using light beams, the occurrence of electromagnetic waves can be reduced. In addition, noises, degradation of signals, and electromagnetic waves which occur when image signals are electrically transferred can be reduced by transferring image signals optically.