JPH1049252A - Detachment and lid structure of expansion cards for electronic devices - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] In an electronic device in which an expansion unit such as an FDD and an expansion card such as a memory card can be attached and detached, in addition to the expansion unit, an expansion card storage case having the same size as the expansion unit, or A dedicated attachment / detachment mechanism for the expansion card and its lid are required, which hinders miniaturization and increases costs.
An object of the present invention is to provide a small and inexpensive electronic device by solving this problem. SOLUTION: In a state where an extension unit 3 is removed,
When the expansion card 4 can be attached and detached and the expansion unit 3 is mounted, the expansion card 4 is hidden by the expansion unit 3.
That is, the expansion unit 3 is configured to be a lid of the expansion card 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a detachable expansion card and a lid structure for an electronic device such as a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At the bottom of a personal computer housing,
A structure is provided in which an extension unit such as an HDD can be attached or detached or replaced, and when installed, the exterior of the extension unit becomes a part of the housing.
45), which is shown in FIG.

[0003] In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes a personal computer main body, which is provided with two storage units 34 for an extension unit at a rear portion thereof, and a battery 40 is mounted therein. One of the storage sections 34 is provided with a connector 33 for connecting the expansion card 50, and when the expansion card 50 is used, it can be replaced with one of the batteries 40.

[0004]

However, according to this prior art, when a thin and small expansion card such as a memory card is used, it is stored in a large case for an expansion unit such as an HDD or FDD. It is necessary to attach / detach to / from the same attachment / detachment mechanism as the HDD or the like, or to provide an attachment / detachment mechanism for exclusive use of the expansion card and its lid in another place of the above-mentioned housing.

Therefore, an expansion card storage case or an attachment / detachment mechanism dedicated to the expansion card and its lid are required.
This hinders miniaturization of electronic devices and increases costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves such a problem, and provides a storage case for an expansion card, an attachment / detachment mechanism for an expansion card of an electronic device that does not require an attachment / detachment mechanism or a cover dedicated to the extension card, and a lid structure. The purpose is to gain.

[0007]

In the electronic device according to the present invention, the expansion card can be attached and detached when the extension unit is removed, and the expansion card can be attached and detached when the extension unit is attached. Are hidden by the expansion unit, that is, the expansion unit is configured to be a lid of the expansion card.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention described in claim 1 of the present invention is as follows.
In an electronic device in which an expansion unit such as an FDD and an expansion card such as a memory card can be attached and detached, when the extension unit is removed from the electronic device, the extension card can be attached and detached, and when the extension unit is attached to the electronic device,
The exterior of the extension unit is a part of the exterior of the electronic device, and has an attachment / detachment and lid structure of an extension card of the electronic device configured to be a lid of the extension card.A case or a lid of the extension card is omitted, Space for attaching and detaching the expansion card can be saved, and the effect of miniaturization and low cost can be obtained.

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIG.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the electronic apparatus of the present invention as viewed from the bottom, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where an expansion unit and an expansion card are attached, and FIG. 3 is a state where the expansion unit is removed. It is an external appearance perspective view shown. In the figure, 1
Denotes a main body of the portable personal computer, and an extension unit 3 containing the FDD 2 is mounted on a part of the bottom surface of the main body 1. In the mounted state, the exterior of the extension unit 3 forms part of the bottom and side surfaces of the housing of the personal computer.

An expansion card 4 having a memory circuit is mounted inside the expansion unit 3. The extension unit 3 is connected to a circuit board 7 in the main body 1 by a connector 5. The expansion card 4 is connected to a circuit board 7 by a connector 6. Other components mounted on the circuit board 7 are not shown for convenience of explanation.

The attachment / detachment and the lid structure of the expansion card of the electronic device configured as described above will be described below with reference to the attachment / detachment method.

When replacing the expansion card 4, the expansion unit 3 is first disconnected from the connector as shown in FIG. In this state, the expansion card 4 is pulled out from the connector 6, and another expansion card is inserted again. Since the user can see the expansion unit connector 5 and the expansion card connector 6 connected to the circuit board 7, the user inserts the expansion card 4 indicated by the dotted line into the connector 6,
Can be easily attached and detached.

Thereafter, the extension unit 3 is attached to the main body 1 again. As described above, since the expansion card 4 is covered with the expansion unit 3, the expansion unit 3 serves as a cover for the expansion card 4.

Therefore, there is no need to provide a dedicated storage case for the expansion card 4 or a dedicated storage port or a detachable mechanism in the main body.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the expansion card is covered with the expansion unit, the case and lid of the expansion card to be attached to and detached from the electronic device can be omitted, the space for attachment and detachment can be saved, and the size can be reduced. And an inexpensive electronic device can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an electronic device of the present invention as viewed from the bottom.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the expansion unit and the expansion card of the present invention in a mounted state.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a state in which an extension unit of the present invention is removed.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing the structure of an extension unit according to the related art.

[Description of Signs] 1 Main body 2 FDD 3 Expansion unit 4 Expansion card 5 Connector 6 Connector 7 Circuit board

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akira Iwamoto 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 72) Inventor Masayuki Nakayama 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device in which an expansion unit such as an FDD and an expansion card such as a memory card can be attached and detached, when the extension unit is removed from the electronic device, the extension card can be attached and detached and the extension unit can be attached to the electronic device. The attachment / detachment and lid structure of an expansion card of an electronic device configured such that when installed, the exterior of the expansion unit becomes a part of the exterior of the electronic device and serves as a lid of the expansion card.