JP4701894B2 - Exterior casing and portable information processing apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an exterior casing and a portable information processing device used for a portable information processing device such as a notebook personal computer or a portable information terminal device.

  In recent years, portable information processing apparatuses such as notebook personal computers and portable information terminal apparatuses have been reduced in weight. As part of this, a lightweight and high-strength magnesium alloy or the like has been used for the exterior casing of the display unit in which the liquid crystal display device is incorporated. Furthermore, rather than the melt-molding method such as magnesium die casting, the manufacturing of such an exterior casing has adopted the press forming method of the plate material that can be thinned to make it lighter. ing.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a display unit of a conventional portable information processing apparatus. In this figure, the structure on the design value is shown. The back housing 31 covers the liquid crystal display device 32 from the back. The back housing 31 has a raised portion 31A that protrudes in a convex shape via a ridgeline 31B. The raised portion 31A is formed in a planar shape and forms a top surface 31C. A front housing 33 is disposed on the front surface of the liquid crystal display device 32.

  Such a shape is called a so-called bonnet structure. The bonnet structure is used when the casing is formed of a thin material. The strength of the back casing 31 having the bonnet structure is increased. An example in which such a bonnet structure is applied to a casing of a portable information processing apparatus is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

Next, the manufacturing procedure of the back housing 31 by the press forming method will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic view in a process of manufacturing the rear housing 31 by a press forming method. A plate-like material 44 made of magnesium alloy is sandwiched between a blank holder 46 and a die set 43 and pressed by a punch 42 while being heated by a heater 45 and molded.
JP 2003-204174 A

  However, when the raised portion 31A is formed by press forming, material distortion occurs in the ridgeline 31B. Therefore, the raised portion 31A is deformed into a wave shape instead of a flat shape. When the material is a magnesium alloy, it is generally press-formed at a high temperature of 200 ° C. or higher in order to prevent cracks due to bending of the material. The material expands thermally during this heating. Therefore, when using the above materials, a surplus phenomenon is particularly likely to occur, and the raised portion 31A is deformed into an uneven shape. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the rear housing 31 with exaggerated dimensions to explain such a shape. The actual uneven step is about ± 0.5 mm. However, when the surface is irregularly deformed, the appearance is not beautiful. Moreover, the convex portion is easily changed to a concave shape with a little external force. Thus, the tension of the surface is not maintained, and the surface strength is significantly reduced.

In order to solve the above conventional problems, the exterior casing of the present invention is
A raised portion that forms a convexly raised top surface;
A first set of ridges surrounding each of the raised portions and facing each other;
A second set of ridge lines that surround the raised portion, are adjacent to the first set of ridge lines, and face each other;
The top surface is then one pair one of the set of the set and the second ridge of the first ridge, a concave curved surface that is continuous in contrast to the convex ridge direction in the raised portion It is characterized by that,
It is possible to provide an exterior casing of a portable information processing apparatus having a stable shape with less material distortion in the press forming method and unevenness of a raised surface due to thermal expansion.

  In the exterior casing of the portable information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the thin plate material is partially raised to increase the strength. Furthermore, it is possible to provide an exterior casing of a portable information processing apparatus having a stable shape with less material distortion in the press forming method and unevenness of the raised surface due to thermal expansion.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1A shows a cross section of a display portion of a portable information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the rear housing of the display unit shown in FIG. The display unit 4 includes a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter referred to as a display device) 2, a rear housing 1, and a front housing 3. A back housing 1 that is an exterior housing covers the display device 2 from the back. On the upper surface side of the rear housing 1, a raised portion 1 </ b> A that protrudes in a convex shape via a ridge line 1 </ b> B is provided. The raised portion 1A forms a top surface 1C. The raised portion 1A is surrounded by a set of first ridge lines 1B and a set of second ridge lines 1D adjacent to the ridge lines 1B. A front housing 3 is disposed on the front surface of the display device 2. That is, the display device 2 is disposed while the front housing 3 and the back housing 1 are fitted and fixed.

  The rear housing 1 is preferably made of a magnesium alloy plate material having a thickness of 0.5 to 0.7 mm by a press forming method in order to realize light weight and high strength. The raised portion 1 </ b> A increases the strength of the rear housing 1 made of thin sheet metal. Further, the top surface 1C of the raised portion 1A is a curved surface that is concave from the ridgeline 1B. The curved surface is preferably a cylindrical surface as shown in FIG. That is, it is preferable that the two ridge lines 1D facing each other have a concentric arc shape. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, such a shape is exaggerated. The step between the ridge line 1B and the concave bottom is 0.4 mm or more and 0.6 mm or less, but it is formed with a constant curvature, so it is hardly noticeable visually.

  FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a portable information processing apparatus using the back casing 1 according to the present embodiment. The display unit 4 is rotatably attached to the main body 5. FIG. 2B is a block diagram of the portable information processing device illustrated in FIG. The display device 2 and the input unit 7 are connected to the information processing unit 6. The information processing unit 6 includes a CPU, a memory, a hard disk, and the like, and is built in the main body 5. The input unit 7 is a keyboard, a touch panel, a trackball or an interface with an external device, a media drive, a mouse connected via a cable, and the like provided on the main body 5. The input unit 5 may be configured using, for example, a touch panel for the display device 2 of the display unit 4.

  The rear casing 1 of the portable information processing apparatus configured as described above is provided with a raised portion 1A that is partially raised to increase the strength. Furthermore, the top surface 1C formed by the raised portion 1A has a curved surface that is more concave than the surrounding ridgeline 1B. Therefore, even when an external force is applied to the top surface 1C, the tension of the surface is maintained and the surface strength is ensured. Therefore, even if the back casing 1 is made of a thin plate material, strength against external force is ensured. That is, a lighter rear housing 1 is obtained.

  Next, a manufacturing method of the back housing 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic view in the process of creating the back casing in the present embodiment by the press forming method. First, a plate-like material 14 made of a metal material is sandwiched and fixed between a blank holder 16 and a die set 13. The material 14 is preferably a magnesium alloy. Then, the material 14 is pressed by the punch 12 while being heated by the heater 15 to be molded. In this way, the back housing 1 is manufactured.

  Here, the die set 13 is provided with a convex portion 13A, and the punch 12 is provided with a concave portion 12A corresponding to the convex portion 13A. That is, the punch 12 and the die set 13 have a curved surface structure for forming the concave top surface 1C. Therefore, a raised portion 1A having a top surface 1C as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is formed.

  When the back housing 1 is manufactured by the press forming method as described above, there may be a distortion due to a surplus phenomenon due to a work material distortion or thermal expansion. Even in such a case, the surplus portion deforms in a direction in which the top surface 1C becomes more concave, so that the top surface 1C does not become convex. Therefore, the top surface 1C is always stably concave. Therefore, the yield of the back housing 1 is improved.

  In the curved surface on the top surface 1A, it is preferable that the two ridge lines 1D facing each other have a concentric arc shape. By configuring the top surface 1C with a constant curvature in this way, the force applied from the outside does not concentrate locally, and deformation due to the force applied from the outside of the top surface 1C is less likely to occur. That is, if a uniform concave and stable shape is produced, the surface strength of the rear housing 1 is further improved.

  In addition, although the top surface 1C demonstrated the example which is a curved surface which becomes concave shape from the ridgeline 1B, it is not limited to this. The top surface 1C may be a curved surface having a concave shape with respect to the ridgeline 1D. That is, the top surface 1 </ b> C only needs to be a concave curved surface with respect to one of two opposing ridge lines among the surrounding ridge lines. In either case, the material has a stable shape with less material distortion in the press forming method and less unevenness of the raised surface due to thermal expansion. And deformation due to the force applied from the outside of the top surface 1C is less likely to occur. Even in this case, it is preferable that the two ridge lines 1B facing each other have a concentric arc shape. That is, it is preferable that a set of ridge lines having a curved curved surface is a concentric arc shape.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which a magnesium alloy is used as the material of the back housing 1 is described. In addition, an aluminum alloy or other thin plate metal material may be used. However, a magnesium alloy is particularly preferable from the viewpoint of the strength of the entire casing.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the rear casing 1 of the display unit 4, and may be applied to other exterior casings, for example, the rear casing of the main body 5. Moreover, you may apply to both the display part 4 and the main-body part 5. FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the method of manufacturing the rear housing 1 by the press forming method is described, but the method may be manufactured by a melt molding method. Even in this case, the strength of the top surface 1C is improved.

  As described above, in the exterior casing of the portable information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the strength is increased by partially raising the thin plate material. Furthermore, it has a stable shape with less material distortion in the press forming method and unevenness of the raised surface due to thermal expansion. This exterior casing is useful for a display unit of a portable information processing apparatus.

(A) is sectional drawing of the display part of the portable information processing apparatus by embodiment of this invention, (B) is a principal part expansion perspective view of the back housing | casing of the display part shown to (A). (A) is a perspective view of a portable information processing apparatus using a back casing according to an embodiment of the present invention, and (B) is a block diagram of the portable information processing apparatus shown in (A). Schematic diagram in the process of manufacturing the rear housing shown in FIG. 1 (A) by the press forming method. Sectional drawing of the structure on the design value of the display part of the conventional portable information processing apparatus Schematic diagram in the process of creating a conventional rear housing by press forming method Sectional view of the rear housing with exaggerated dimensions to explain the conventional shape

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rear housing | casing 1A Raised part 1B Ridge line 1C Top surface 2 Liquid crystal display device (display device)
3 Front case 4 Display section

Claims (3)

A raised portion that forms a convexly raised top surface;
A first set of ridges surrounding each of the raised portions and facing each other;
A second set of ridge lines that surround the raised portion, are adjacent to the first set of ridge lines, and face each other;
The top surface is then one pair one of the set of the set and the second ridge of the first ridge, a concave curved surface that is continuous in contrast to the convex ridge direction in the raised portion An exterior casing characterized by that. The one of the set of the first ridge line and the set of the second ridge line forming the curved ridge line of the concave curved surface is a concentric arc shape. Exterior housing. A display unit incorporating a display device;
A body that is rotatably attached to the display unit and that has an information processing unit connected to the display unit;
Included in either the display part or the body part,
The exterior housing according to claim 1 or 2,
A portable information processing apparatus comprising:

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