US20080236012A1

US20080236012A1 - Display apparatus frame having sliding cover sliding along direction not parallel to display surface of display apparatus

Info

Publication number: US20080236012A1
Application number: US11/779,287
Authority: US
Inventors: Shih-Feng Lo
Original assignee: Micro Star International Co Ltd
Current assignee: Micro Star International Co Ltd
Priority date: 2007-04-02
Filing date: 2007-07-18
Publication date: 2008-10-02
Also published as: DE202007011616U1; TWM320828U

Abstract

A displaying apparatus frame used for covering an exterior of a display apparatus. The displaying apparatus frame has a main frame and a sliding cover. The main frame has an opening corresponding to a display surface of the display apparatus. The sliding cover is connected to the main frame in a sliding way, and the sliding cover slides along a direction that is not parallel to the display surface.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a displaying apparatus frame, and more particularly, to a frame having a sliding holder that slides along a direction that is not parallel to a display surface of a display apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With advancements in technology and higher living standards, myriad intelligent information products have been engineered in various fields. In the automobile electronic product arena, global positioning systems (GPS) have recently been considered essential devices for vehicles, allowing drivers to enjoy the convenience brought by GPS navigation.
If intense sunlight or external light is shone onto the display screen of the GPS navigation device in use, however, the resulting glare makes it difficult to see the information demonstrated on the display screen clearly, rendering the device less usable. Thus, it becomes important to consider how to design a display screen such that the information on the display screen can be seen clearly in an environment with intense sunlight or external light sources.
Common GPS navigation devices for vehicles or electronic products that are on the market today and feature their own display screens typically are not equipped with screen hoods. Users therefore must install additional hoods or utilize display technology to avoid the mentioned glare and the difficulty in realizing information demonstrated on the display screen. Additional screen hoods are not convenient and sometimes not feasible due to physical space limitations or other reasons and display screens with display technology capable of preventing glare suffer from high production costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a displaying apparatus frame used for covering an exterior of a display apparatus to solve the above problem. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the displaying apparatus frame comprises a main frame and a sliding cover. The main frame has an opening corresponding to a display surface of the display apparatus. The sliding cover is connected to the main frame in a sliding way, and slides along a direction that is not parallel to the display surface.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a displaying apparatus frame whose sliding cover is in a closed position according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the displaying apparatus frame shown in FIG. 1 whose sliding cover is not in a closed position.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a displaying apparatus frame according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a displaying apparatus frame according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a displaying apparatus frame whose first and second sliding covers are both in closed position according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the displaying apparatus frame shown in FIG. 5 whose first and second sliding covers are not in closed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms “include” and “comprise” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “include, but not limited to . . . ”.
Different features of the present invention are detailed as below with reference to the figures, and for convenience of explanation, the same elements in separate figures are indicated by the same reference numerals.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a displaying apparatus frame 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the displaying apparatus frame 100 is used for covering an exterior of a display apparatus 10, and includes a main frame 110 and a sliding cover 120. The main frame 110 has an opening 112 corresponding to a display surface 12 of the display apparatus 10. The sliding cover 120 is connected to the main frame 110 in a sliding way, and slides along a direction that is not parallel to the display surface 12. This is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant as a limitation of the present invention. In practice, the display apparatus 10 can be the display screen of any electronic apparatus such as a GPS navigation device, a digital camera, a personal data assistant, and so on.
In general, the sliding cover 120 is in a closed position when glare is not induced by external light. In this scenario, as shown in FIG. 1, the sliding cover 120 is retracted (or “collapsed”) onto the sides of the main frame 110. However, when external light is too intense and induces glare on a display screen of an electronic apparatus, the sliding cover 120 can be expanded from the closed position in order to decrease interference with the display screen from external light sources. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the displaying apparatus frame 100 shown in FIG. 1 whose sliding cover 120 is not in the closed position. As shown in FIG. 2, the sliding cover 120 protrudes from the surface of the main frame to block external light from inducing glare and, in this way, can prevent the user from having difficulty in seeing the information displayed on the screen.
In this embodiment of the displaying apparatus frame 100, please note that the sliding cover 120 is positioned outside the main frame 110 and has a reverse U-shape that does not completely surround the perimeter of the display apparatus frame. This example is for illustrative purposes only, however, and is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. By way of example, the sliding cover 120 also can be positioned inside the main frame 110, such as a sliding cover 152 of a displaying apparatus frame 150 is shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the displaying apparatus frame 150 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Furthermore, the sliding cover 120 can be a sliding cover which surrounds all sides of the display apparatus as a sliding cover 162 of a displaying apparatus frame 160 shown in FIG. 4, which is a perspective diagram illustrating the displaying apparatus frame 160 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiments, each of the displaying apparatus frames 100, 150 and 160 has only one sliding cover; however, the number of the sliding covers is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. In another words, each of the displaying apparatus frames 100, 150 and 160 also can be built with a plurality of sliding covers. Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a perspective diagram illustrating a displaying apparatus frame 300 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the displaying apparatus frame 300 includes a main frame 110, a first sliding cover 320, and a second sliding cover 330. The first sliding cover 320 is connected to the main frame 110 in a sliding manner, and the second sliding cover 330 is also connected to the first sliding cover 320 in a sliding manner. Furthermore, in this embodiment, both the first and second sliding covers 320 and 330 slide along the direction that is perpendicular to the display surface 112.
In general, the first sliding cover 320 and the second sliding cover 330 are in a first closed position and a second closed position when glare is not induced by external light. The definition of the first closed position in the present invention is the position where the first sliding cover 320 is completely retracted or collapsed onto the main frame 110, and likewise, the definition of the second closed position of the present invention is where the second sliding cover 330 is completely retracted or collapsed onto the first sliding cover 320. At the present circumstance, as shown in FIG. 3, the first sliding cover 320 and the second sliding cover 330 both are put away or collapsed onto the sides of the main frame 110 together, where the first sliding cover 320 is flush with the main frame 110, and the second sliding cover 330 is flush with the surface of the first sliding cover 320. However, when external light is too intense and induces undesired glare on a display screen of an electronic apparatus, the glare problem can be solved by utilizing the first sliding cover 320 and/or the second sliding cover 330. For example, please refer to FIG. 6 which is a perspective view illustrating the displaying apparatus frame 300 shown in FIG. 5 whose first and second sliding covers 320 and 330 are not in the closed position. As shown in FIG. 6, the first sliding cover 320 is not in the first closed position, and the second sliding cover 330 is not in the second closed position. In this diagram, the first sliding cover 320 is protruding from the surface of the main frame 110 having the opening 112, and the second sliding cover 330 is protruding over the first sliding cover 320 to block external light from inducing glare. Please note that the displaying apparatus frame 300 of the present invention can still achieve the same objective of blocking external light from inducing undesired glare even if only one of the first and second sliding covers 320 and 330 are expanded from their respective closed position (i.e., the first sliding cover 320 is expanded while the second sliding cover 330 is collapsed, or vice versa).
Please note that the display apparatus 10 in the above-mentioned embodiment can be a display screen of a GPS navigation device; however, the displaying apparatus frame of the present invention in practice can be applied to any electronic apparatus having a display screen.
With regard to the method of affixing or combining the main frame to the sliding cover, taking the displaying apparatus frame 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention for example, the main frame 110 and the sliding cover 120 are attached through the inherent elastic force of plastic materials. In addition, three sides of the main frame 110 connected with the sliding cover 120 have channels to guide the sliding cover 120 over on the main frame 110 along a direction that is perpendicular to the display surface 12. Furthermore, two sides of the main frame 110 in contact with the sliding cover 120 further have protruding points (or pits), and there are counterpart pits (or protruding points) at corresponding positions on the sliding cover 120 for positioning purposes. It is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that there are various methods for affixing or combining the main frame 110 with sliding cover 120, therefore additional details are omitted for the sake of brevity. Please note that the above-mentioned main frame 110 and the sliding cover 120 combination is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to be taken as a limitation of the present invention. In practice, any combination and structure of a single sliding cover or a plurality of sliding covers can be applied to the displaying apparatus frame of the present invention.
Compared with the prior art, the displaying apparatus frame of the present invention has at least a sliding cover itself. When external light is too intense and induces glare on a display screen of an electronic apparatus, the sliding cover can be adjusted depending on the user's desire to block external light from inducing glare on the display screen. In other words, the displaying apparatus frame of the present invention can avoid glare without adding extra hoods or utilizing costly display technology capable of preventing glare. Moreover, the sliding cover is integrated into the displaying apparatus frame, so the sliding cover can provide users with the function of blocking light anytime and anywhere, which highly increases the convenience in use.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A displaying apparatus frame, utilized for covering an exterior of a display apparatus, the displaying apparatus frame comprising:

a main frame, having an opening corresponding to a display surface of the display apparatus; and

a first sliding cover, connected to the main frame in a sliding way, and the first sliding cover sliding along a direction that is not parallel to the display surface.

2. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the first sliding cover slides along a direction that is perpendicular to the display surface.

3. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein when the first sliding cover is in a first closed position, the first sliding cover is completely retracted onto sides of the main frame; and when the first sliding cover is not in the first closed position, the first sliding cover protrudes over a surface corresponding to the opening on the main frame.

4. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the first sliding cover is positioned outside the main frame.

5. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the first sliding cover is positioned inside the main frame.

6. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, further comprising:

a second sliding cover, connected to the first sliding cover in a sliding way, the second sliding cover sliding along a direction that is not parallel to the display surface.

7. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 6, wherein the first sliding cover and the second sliding cover slide along a direction that is perpendicular to the display surface.

8. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 6, wherein when the first sliding cover is in a first closed position, the first sliding cover is completely retracted onto sides of the main frame; when the first sliding cover is not in the first closed position, the first sliding cover protrudes over a surface corresponding to the opening of the main frame; when the second sliding cover is in a second closed position, the second sliding cover is completely retracted to a surface of the first sliding cover; and when the second sliding cover is not in the second closed position, the second sliding cover protrudes over the first sliding cover.

9. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 8, wherein the first sliding cover is positioned outside the main frame.

10. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 8, wherein the first sliding cover is positioned inside the main frame.

11. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 6, wherein at least one of the first sliding cover and the second sliding cover has a reverse U-shape.

12. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 6, wherein at least one of the first sliding cover and the second sliding cover has a rectangular shape.

13. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the first sliding cover has a reverse U-shape.

14. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the first sliding cover has a reverse U-shape.

15. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the displaying apparatus is a display screen of a global positioning system (GPS) navigation device.