Claims:I/We CLAIM

1. An automatic laptop lid closing device having a lid closing mechanism, a spring holding mechanism, a ratchet mechanism, a compression unit and an upper lid mechanism, the device comprising of a rubber curved plate (1) attached to the laptop lid and connected to a soft plastic supporting bar (2) as a slider strip, an alumina hollow shaft (3) having a rectangular hole to accommodate the plastic supporting bar (2), shaft (3) being mounted on a first circular hollow shaft (4) which in turn is mounted on a second circular aluminium shaft (4’), shaft (4) being free to rotate on a solid aluminium shaft (4’) which is connected to a small ratchet wheel (20) with a gear (21), wheel (20) being lined with a pawl lever (22) which is connected to pawl (4’’), the pawl adapted to arrest the ratchet’s clockwise rotation, pawl (4’’) being connected with a small lever (22’), gear (21) being connected as rack and pinion to rack and pinion joint (18) which is linked to cylinder plunger (17) of a pneumatic cylinder-plunger mechanism (17, 18) fixed to a metallic bar (11) mounted on a metal frame, adapted to provide damping force against sudden closure of the laptop lid.

2. The automatic laptop lid closing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lid closing mechanism comprises of a laptop lid (24), carbon shafts (25, 26) for support and for adjusting the base of the laptop, a rotating shaft having a gear (21), a servo mechanism (27) for removing the lock of the spring, a piston rod (28) having a tip (29) and teeth (35) similar to the gear (21), a cylindrical tube (30) having a tip (31), the piston rod being the compression unit of the mechanism which has a backside case (34) and the nacelle (32) of the closing device being positioned centrally.

3. The automatic laptop lid closing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said spring holding mechanism has an upper case (37) to protect the internal spring (38), the side way protection being provided by a horizontal plate (39) fixed to it, one end of said spring (38) being connected to shaft (40) on its side and the other end to the body (41), the shaft bring fixed to the spring and the moment of the spring being along the direction of the shaft.

4. The automatic laptop lid closing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ratchet mechanism for locking the loaded spring comprises of the laptop closing lid (24) with the gear (21) having teeth (42) which is permanently fixed to the shaft (45) of the system, a servo motor (47) having an arm (44) to free the locked spring system and two base holders (42) to hold the pc or laptop which has a base (46).

5. The automatic laptop lid closing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said compression unit comprises of a piston rod (28) to drive the piston rod in and out with teeth (35) which are similar to the teeth of the gear (21), the teeth of the piston rod being contained in teeth holders (48, 49), a central shaft (45) which is fitted to the gear (21), a cylindrical tube (30) connected to the piston rod to pressurise the piston to come in and out, the gear being covered by a covering lid (50).

6. The automatic laptop lid closing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upper lid mechanism comprises of said curved rubber plate (1) which is provided with a curvature (52), a suction holder (51) attached to said soft plastic supporting bar (2) connected to the rubber plate (1), the entire mechanism being movable and connected with said alumina shaft (3) by means of a plurality of connecting rods (53), a small adjusting mechanism (54) being provided between the supporting bar (2) and alumina shaft (3) and held by a plurality of mounting poles (55), the assembly being fixed to the laptop with joints (56), a thin rod (57) being attached to lock the whole system through a specially inclined toothed gear (61) connected directly to the servo (44) through a servo hand, the servo being positioned parallel to a space (58), an arrangement of springs (38) being placed parallel to the shaft (60), one end of each spring being fixed to the shaft and the other end to the body, the shaft (60) having a gear (61) fixed next to the spring arrangement which is parallel to the system holding the laptop, the whole system along with a pneumatic piston (28) being connected to the gear.

Dated this on 12th day of February, 2018

M P Venkata Kiran Kumar
IN/PA –2647
Agent for the applicant
, Description:FORM – 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)

AND

THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(See Section 10; rule 13)

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

AUTOMATIC LAPTOP LID CLOSING DEVICE

Mr Srinivasa Rao Pitta
# 4-3-142/2/A,
Saijyothi Residency, CBIT Colony,
Attapur, Hyderabad – 500048,
Telangana, India.

An Indian National

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] The present invention relates in general to portable computing devices and in particular to an automatic laptop lid closing device which automatically senses the laptop computer in shut down/ sleep/ hibernation mode and activates unlocking of an open laptop lid, which is closed due to spring force. The device can also be made to operate manually or remotely through IoT.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[002] Laptops are known in the prior art to be provided with lids that are opened and closed manually. Usually such lids are held in the open position through friction force. There is no device known in the prior art which locks a laptop lid in its open condition, and thereafter closes the lid automatically whenever desired by the user, or the laptop assumes an inactive mode or is switched off.

[003] The present invention seeks to overcome these drawbacks of the prior art.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION

[004] Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide an automatic laptop lid closing device which locks an open laptop lid in its position as it is opened and can hold it there.

[005] Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic laptop lid closing device which can close an open lid automatically through a command remotely through IoT.

[006] A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic laptop lid closing device which can sense when the laptop computer is in shut down/ sleep/ hibernation mode, activate unlocking of an open laptop lid and automatically close it.

[007] How the foregoing objects are achieved will be clear from the following description. In this context it is clarified that the description provided is non-limiting and is only by way of explanation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[008] An automatic laptop lid closing device has a lid closing mechanism, a spring holding mechanism, a ratchet mechanism, a compression unit and an upper lid mechanism. The device comprises of a rubber curved plate attached to the laptop lid and connected to a soft plastic supporting bar as a slider strip and an alumina hollow shaft having a rectangular hole to accommodate the plastic supporting bar. A shaft is mounted on a first circular hollow shaft which in turn is mounted on a second circular aluminium shaft. The shaft is free to rotate on a solid aluminium shaft which is connected to a small ratchet wheel with a gear. The wheel is lined with a pawl lever which is connected to a pawl. The pawl is provided to arrest the ratchet’s clockwise rotation. The pawl is connected with a small lever. A gear is connected as rack and pinion to a rack and pinion joint which is linked to a cylinder plunger of a pneumatic cylinder-plunger mechanism fixed to a metallic bar which is mounted on a metal frame. It provides damping force against sudden closure of the laptop lid.

[009] The lid closing mechanism comprises of a laptop lid and a pair of carbon shafts for support and for adjusting the base of the laptop. A rotating shaft having a gear and a servo mechanism for removing the lock of the spring are also provided. A piston rod having teeth similar to the gear and a cylindrical tube having a tip are provided. The piston rod is the compression unit of the mechanism. It has a backside case. The nacelle of the closing device is positioned centrally.

[0010] The spring holding mechanism has an upper case to protect the internal spring, the side way protection being provided by a horizontal plate fixed to it. One end of said spring is connected to the shaft on its side and the other end to the body. The shaft is fixed to the spring and the moment of the spring is along the direction of the shaft.

[0011] The ratchet mechanism for locking the loaded spring comprises of the laptop closing lid with the gear with its teeth being permanently fixed to the shaft of the system. A servo motor has an arm to free the locked spring system and two base holders to hold the PC or laptop.

[0012] The compression unit comprises of a piston rod to drive the piston rod in and out with teeth which are similar to the teeth of the gear. The teeth of the piston rod are contained in two teeth holders. A central shaft is fitted to the gear. A cylindrical tube is connected to the piston rod to pressurise the piston to come in and out. The gear is covered by a covering lid.

[0013] The upper lid mechanism comprises of the curved rubber plate which is provided with a curvature. A suction holder is attached to the soft plastic supporting bar which is connected to the rubber plate. The entire mechanism is movable and connected with the alumina shaft by means of a plurality of connecting rods. A small adjusting mechanism is provided between the supporting bar and the alumina shaft and held by a plurality of mounting poles. The assembly is fixed to the laptop with several joints. A thin rod is attached to lock the whole system through a specially inclined toothed gear connected directly to the servo through a servo hand. The servo is positioned parallel to a space. An arrangement of springs is placed parallel to the shaft. One end of each spring is fixed to the shaft and the other end to the body. The shaft has a gear fixed next to the spring arrangement which is parallel to the system holding the laptop. The whole system along with a pneumatic piston is connected to the gear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The nature and scope of the present invention will be better understood from the accompanying drawings, which are by way of illustration of a preferred embodiment and not by way of any sort of limitation. In the accompanying drawings:-

[0015] Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of the automatic laptop lid closing device according to the present invention.

[0016] Figure 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the mechanism of the automatic laptop lid closing mechanism of the device shown in figure 1.

[0017] Figure 3 shows a schematic perspective view of the spring holding mechanism of the automatic laptop lid closing device shown in figure 1.

[0018] Figure 4 shows a schematic perspective view of the ratchet mechanism of the automatic laptop lid closing device shown in figure 1.

[0019] Figure 5 shows a compression unit of the automatic laptop lid closing device shown in figure 1.

[0020] Figure 6 represents the upper lid mechanism of the automatic laptop lid closing device.

[0021] Figure 7 shows further details of the upper lid mechanism shown in figure 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] Having described the main features of the invention above, a more detailed and non-limiting description of a preferred embodiment will be given in the following paragraphs with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] In all the figures, like reference numerals represent like features. Further, the shape, size and number of the devices shown are by way of example only and it is within the scope of the present invention to change their shape, size and number without departing from the basic principle of the invention.

[0024] Further, when in the following it is referred to “top”, “bottom”, “upward”, “downward”, “above” or “below” , “right hand side”, “left hand side” and similar terms , this is strictly referring to an orientation with reference to the apparatus , where the base of the apparatus is horizontal and is at the bottom portion of the figures. The number of components shown is exemplary and not restrictive and it is within the scope of the invention to vary the shape and size of the apparatus as well as the number of its components, without departing from the principle of the present invention.

[0025] All through the specification including the claims, the technical terms and abbreviations are to be interpreted in the broadest sense of the respective terms, and include all similar items in the field known by other terms, as may be clear to persons skilled in art. Restriction or limitation if any referred to in the specification, is solely by way of example and understanding the present invention.

[0026] Referring to figure 1, a rubber curved plate (1) is attached to the laptop computer lid from the back. Curved plate (1) is connected to a soft plastic supporting bar (2) provided as a slider strip which can be changed from time to time. An alumina hollow shaft (3) has a rectangular hole to accommodate the plastic supporting bar (2) which is fixed into the shaft (3) as a sliding joint. As both are rubber-plastic made, the shaft does not allow the bar (2) to slip out.

[0027] Shaft (3) is mounted on a first circular hollow shaft (4) which in turn is mounted on a second circular aluminium shaft (4’) having a roller joint with shaft (4). Shaft (4) is free to rotate on the solid aluminium shaft (4’). Shaft (4’) is connected to a small ratchet wheel (20) with a gear (21) which are joined as rotating parts, wheel (20) being lined with a pawl lever (22) which is connected to pawl (4’’). The pawl arrests the ratchet’s clockwise rotation. Pawl (4’’) is connected with a small lever (22’). This lever acts as an interface between the automatic lid closing mechanism and the user.

[0028] Gear (21) is connected as rack and pinion to rack and pinion joint (18), which is linked to cylinder plunger (17) as a pneumatic cylinder-plunger mechanism fixed to a metallic bar (11). This bar (11) is mounted on the metal frame part 7 and part 15. Adjustable planks 16, 5, 8 and 14, which join metal rods 9,13,15’16’,7’,6’,23 and 19, are a set of aluminum rods.

Operation:

[0029] The curved plate (1), supporting bar (2), hollow shaft (3) and hollow shaft (4) act as a single unit (Arm) which can be turned on the shaft (4’). The hollow shaft (4) contains two torsion springs (38), best shown in figure 7, which oppose the rotation of the arm. The user needs to open the arm and while doing it the user acts against the torsion springs that are incorporated in the hollow cylinder (4) of the arm.

[0030] As the arm is turned anticlockwise (opening), since this arm is connected to ratchet wheel which allows only anticlockwise rotation, the arm gets arrested at the position that the user opens. While doing it the simple mechanism which is a plunger/cylinder unit (17, 18) is activated due to the rack and pinion mechanism. It is somewhat similar to a pneumatic door closing system. As the user opens the arm, it causes suction of air into the cylinder due to the rack and pinion mechanism which gets activated by the gear connected to ratchet wheel (20).

[0031] The pawl (4’’), which arrests the ratchet, is now the only point of reversing this operation.

[0032] Here the user can operate manually by a push button or a sensor-based control or even through IoT control, which can be interfaced with this mechanism.

Manual control:

[0033] A push button is provided to unlock the pawl (4’’) and hence the springs (torsion springs) act and the arm starts clockwise motion which closes the Laptop lid. The sudden closing is controlled by the pneumatic cylinder and piston mechanism (17, 18), which provides a damping force against such closing motion.

[0034] Sensor-based control circuit: It senses automatically, by virtue of the sensors, whether the laptop is in shut down mode or in sleeping mode or in hibernation mode. Accordingly, the unlocking of the pawl is activated.

[0035] The IoT based interface and app is provided to control the laptop lid closing system.

[0036] Referring to figure 2, the mechanism of the automatic laptop lid closing device comprises of the laptop lid (24) which is free to turn, carbon shafts (25, 26) for support and for adjusting the base of the laptop, servo mechanism (27) for removing the lock of the spring, a piston rod (28) having a tip (29) which has teeth (35) similar to the gear (21), a cylindrical tube (30) having a tip (31). The piston rod is the compression unit of the whole setup which has a backside case (34). The nacelle of the whole locking system (32) is positioned centrally. A rotating shaft has a gear (21) mounted on it.

[0037] Referring to figure 3, the spring holding mechanism of the drive is shown, which generates all the motions of the drive. It has an upper case (37) which protects the internal spring (38) and the side way protection is provided by a horizontal plate (39) fixed to it. The spring inside the system (38) has two ends, one of which is connected to the shaft (40) on its side and the other end of the spring is connected to the body (41). The shaft is fixed to the spring and the moment of the spring is along the direction of the shaft.

[0038] Figure 4 shows the ratchet mechanism for locking the loaded spring. It has the laptop closing lid (24) with the gear (21) having teeth (42) which is permanently fixed to the shaft (45) of the system. A servo motor (47) having an arm (44) is provided to free the locked spring system. Two base holders (42) hold the pc or laptop, which has a base (46).

[0039] Figure 5 represents the compression unit of whole setup. The compression unit is used to slow down the speed of the closing of the laptop cover. A piston rod (28) with teeth (35) which are similar to the teeth of the gear (21) is used to drive the piston rod in and out. The teeth of the piston rod are contained in teeth holders (48, 49). A central shaft (45) is fitted to the gear. A cylindrical tube (30) is connected to the piston rod, which pressurises the piston to come in and out. The gear is covered by a covering lid (50).

[0040] Figure 6 shows the details of the mechanism of the upper portion of the lid of the laptop. Its function is to close the screen of the laptop by holding it firmly. The top most part of the lid is a curved rubber plate (1) which has a curvature (52) and which is instrumental in producing enough force to push the laptop screen to connect it to the secondary part of this mechanism. A suction holder (51) is attached to the soft plastic supporting bar (2) connected to the rubber plate (1). The entire section is movable and is connected with the alumina shaft (3) by means of a plurality of connecting rods (53). This entire section helps move or close the laptop screen by itself.

[0041] Referring now to figure 7 which shows further details of the mechanism of the upper portion of the lid of the laptop, the top most portion is curved rubber plate (1) connected to soft plastic supporting bar (2). A small adjusting mechanism (54) is provided within a space between the supporting bar (2) and alumina shaft (3). It is held by a plurality of mounting poles (55). The entire assembly is connected to the main system, to be fixed to the laptop with joints (56). A thin rod (57) is attached to lock the whole system with the help of a specially inclined toothed gear (61) connected directly to the servo (44) through a servo hand. The servo, which is positioned parallel to a space (58), is powered through power cables (59) connected to the power supply.

[0042] An arrangement of springs (38) is placed parallel to the shaft (60). One end of the spring is fixed to the shaft and the other end is fixed to the body of the system carrying the lid system. The shaft (60) also has a gear (61) fixed next to the spring arrangement which is parallel to the system holding the laptop. The whole system along with a pneumatic piston (28) is connected or attached to the gear.

[0043] The present invention has been described with reference to some drawings and a preferred embodiment purely for the sake of understanding and not by way of any limitation and the present invention includes all legitimate developments within the scope of what has been described herein before and claimed in the appended claims.