1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer system and, more particularly, to improved features for housings of computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
All computing devices, including portable computers and desktop computers, have housings that encloses the components and circuitry of the computing devices. These housings are known to include various ports (e.g., parallel port, serial port, audio port, PC-Card slot) at their periphery to allow external devices to electrically couple to the computing devices. Access to the various ports is normally provided by associated connectors or slots that are provided as the periphery of the housings. The external devices that electrically couple to these ports typically do so with plugs or cards that mate with the connectors or slots. One disadvantage with the conventional use of such connectors or slots is that they are not easily located. Another disadvantage is that it is often difficult for users to determine whether proper connections have been made upon inserting the mating plugs or cards into the connectors or slots.
Computing devices are also known to make use of a touch pad (or track pad) as an input device to the computing devices. With portable computers, a palm rest portion of the base housing for the portable computers is often provided with a touch pad. Conventionally, touch pads have been attached with a bracket structure to the inside surface of the base housing such that the touch pad is held in place from the inside of the base housing and made accessible through an opening in the palm rest.
Unfortunately, the conventional approaches to attaching the touch pad to the base housing lead to problems. One problem with conventional approaches is that assembly is difficult because the touch pad is assembled and held in place from the inside of the base housing (i.e., from the underside of the palm rest). Another problem with conventional approaches is that the touch pad is necessarily recessed below the top surface of the palm rest by the thickness of the base housing at the palm rest which tends to make its use by users more difficult.
Also, as base housings get thinner and lighter, the base housings unfortunately get more flexible and thus less stiff. This even more true with base housings that provide industrial design features into the base housings because non-rectangular structures often associated with modern industrial designs offer even less rigidity. While internal ridges have been used to increase strength, recent designs are not always amenable to providing for internal ribs. For example, when there is limited space inside the housing the ribs may not provide the desired stiffness. Furthermore, in some applications, particularly around sensitive parts such as a Compact Disk (CD) drive or Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) drive, the strength of the walls enclosing the CD/DVD drive need to substantially resist deflections to prevent damage to the CD/DVD drive. As an example, in some of today""s portable computers, a deflection of more than xc2xd millimeter around the CD/DVD drive can damage the sensitive parts of the CD/DVD drive. The ability of housing to sufficiently resist such deflection is becoming increasingly difficult as base housing become thinner and provide industrial design features. As an example, in the case of a portable computer, one test that can be applied to test deflection is that a base housing must not deflect more than xc2xd millimeter when put under a 10 lb. force.
Thus, there is a need for improved housings for computing devices.
Broadly speaking, the invention relates to an improved housing for a computing device. A first aspect of the invention pertains to an illuminable connector suitable for use with the computing device. A second aspect of the invention pertains to a touch pad arrangement also suitable for use with the computing device. Both the illuminable connector and the touch pad arrangement can be provided on external portions of a housing of the computing device such that they are available for user interaction. A third aspect of the invention pertains to a palm rest stiffening plate.
The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as an apparatus, a device, a method, and a computer system. Several embodiments of the invention are discussed below.
As an illuminable connector for use with a computer having a light source, one embodiment of the invention includes a connector configured to transmit signals to and from the computer, and a light emitting enclosure having a light receiving area and an illuminating area. The light emitting enclosure is configured to direct light from the light source through said light emitting enclosure from the light receiving area to the illuminating area, and said light emitting enclosure is disposed around the outer periphery of said connector.
As a computer system, one embodiment of the invention includes a light source, a computer housing configured to enclose said light source, and an illuminable connector provided at an outer peripheral surface of said computer housing. The illuminable connector including a connector configured to transmit signals to and from said computer system, and a light emitting enclosure having a light receiving area and an illuminating area. The light emitting enclosure being configured to direct light from said light source through said light emitting enclosure from the light receiving area to the illuminating area, and said light emitting enclosure being disposed around the outer periphery of said connector.
As a method for illuminating a translucent connector that is connected to an outer peripheral surface of a computer housing, one embodiment of the invention includes the acts of: transmitting light from a light source enclosed in the computer housing; receiving the transmitted light at a light receiving portion of the translucent connector; directing the transmitted light from the light receiving portion of the translucent connector through the translucent connector to an outer periphery of the translucent connector such that light is directed outward away from the outer periphery of the computer housing.
As a touch pad apparatus, one embodiment of the invention includes: a housing having an outer surface and an opening through said housing, said housing further including a first recess within the outer surface about the opening to produce a first recessed surface; and a track pad said track pad being disposed in the first recess.
As a portable computer housing, one embodiment of the invention includes: a bottom portion providing a bottom surface for said portable computer housing; a top portion providing a top surface for said portable computer housing, said top surface having a palm rest region; and a stiffener affixed to an inner surface of the palm rest region of said top portion. The top portion and said bottom portion are coupled together to form said portable computer housing. The stiffener operates to provide stiffness to the palm rest region substantially beyond the stiffness otherwise provided by said top portion.
As a stiffening system for providing strength to a portable computer housing, one embodiment of the invention includes a computer housing and a stiffening plate. The computer housing including at least a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion has an inner surface and an outer surface, and the top portion includes a palm rest region on the outer surface. The bottom portion is configured to be coupled to the top portion such that said top portion and said bottom portion when coupled together form said portable computer housing. The stiffening plate is configured to be coupled to the inner surface of said top portion of said computer housing and the stiffening plate is configured to strengthen said palm rest region.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.