Input Device Frame for Precise Component Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing input devices with liquid crystal display functions face challenges in maintaining gap tolerance and accurate position alignment between components, leading to impaired operability due to gaps or offsets, and limited material and design choices for the lower case.
Innovation Solution
An input device design featuring a frame on the lower surface of a transparent panel to house and secure the flat panel display unit and flat sensor, allowing for precise positioning and assembly, with the frame and panel made of resin materials for improved flexibility and operability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the protective plate is bonded to the upper case and the liquid crystal cell is fixed to the lower case with screws, then the components can be assembled, but it is difficult to maintain gap tolerance and position alignment between the protective plate and the liquid crystal cell
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the protective plate and the lower case into a single integrated structure. The protective plate is formed as an integral part of the lower case, eliminating the need for separate bonding and fixing operations. This integration directly resolves the alignment and gap tolerance issues by ensuring that the protective plate and lower case move as a single unit, maintaining precise positional relationships without requiring complex assembly tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the housing into distinct functional portions: the lower case with integrated protective plate, the upper case, and the liquid crystal cell assembly. This segmentation allows each portion to be manufactured and assembled independently with standardized interfaces, simplifying the overall assembly process while maintaining precision through defined mating surfaces and positioning features.
2Strength
If screws are used to fix components to the lower case, then components can be securely attached, but the lower case requires bosses which limit material and design choices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical screw-fixing system with an adhesive bonding system. Instead of requiring bosses and screws for attachment, the liquid crystal cell is bonded directly to the inner surface of the protective plate using adhesive. This substitution eliminates the need for mechanical fastening features, allowing the lower case to be manufactured from a wider range of materials including plastics and composites that would be difficult or impossible to machine with bosses and screw holes.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If assembly is performed in a clean room to prevent dust in the air layer, then dust contamination is avoided, but assembly time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the air layer between the protective plate and the liquid crystal cell by bonding them directly together. This removal of the air gap eliminates the space where dust could accumulate, allowing the assembly to be manufactured in a normal environment without requiring a clean room, thereby significantly reducing assembly time and cost while preventing dust contamination.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables easy and precise assembly of components, reduces the risk of gaps or offsets, and increases design freedom by eliminating the need for screw-fixed bosses in the lower case, thus enhancing user input operability and design options.
Implementation Method 1
the sensor is an electromagnetic induction type sensor which detects positional information of input operation performed with a position indicator brought close to the other surface of the transparent panel
Data Source
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AI summary
A liquid crystal module (1) includes a transparent panel (2) having a frame (3) projecting substantially perpendicularly from one surface thereof. The module also includes a flat panel display unit having a liquid crystal cell (6), a liquid crystal back light (7), and a liquid crystal back light unit (8), for example. The module further includes a flat sensor (9), such as a thin digitizer (a coordinate position inputting sensor). The frame is configured such that the flat panel display unit and the flat sensor can be readily housed and secured within a housing portion inside the frame.