BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a latch mechanism.

Description of the Prior Art

In electronic devices of the prior art, such as tablet computers and laptop computers, to make the replacement of a battery easier for a user, a battery latch that can be opened and closed is often installed near the battery so as to facilitate the removal and installation of the battery. However, if the electronic device is accidentally fallen during the utilization process, the battery latch is often shifted when the electronic device impacts the ground and the battery then becomes disengaged from the electronic device, resulting in interrupted power of the electronic device. Such sudden power interruption frequently causes damage in the operating system or data in the electronic device.

The section “description of the prior art” is used for assisting in understanding of the contents of the present invention, and thus the disclosure in the “description of the prior art” may include details that do not constitute certain prior art generally known to a person skilled in the art. Further, the disclosure of the “description of the prior art” neither represents the problems to be solved by the disclosure or one or more embodiments of the present invention, nor means that the art of the present invention is already known to a person skilled in the art before the application of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a latch mechanism capable of preventing a battery from being accidentally separated from an electronic device due to an impact or falling off of the electronic device.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a latch mechanism provided by the present invention includes a sliding member, an elastic piece, a positioning member and an operation member. The elastic piece has a positioning end and an immobile end fixed at the sliding member. The positioning member has a positioning portion. The operation member is provided at the positioning member. The positioning end is pressingly secured at the positioning portion to block a linear sliding movement of the sliding member. The operation member is slid to push the elastic piece and drive the positioning end to depart from the positioning portion, further allowing the linear sliding movement of the sliding member.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a latch mechanism provided by the present invention is suitable for limiting a movement of a sliding member, and includes a positioning member, an elastic piece and an operation member. The positioning member has a positioning portion, a first limiting portion and a second limiting portion. The positioning portion faces the sliding member, and the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion are adjacent to the positioning portion. The elastic piece has an immobile end, a positioning end, and a connecting section obliquely connecting the immobile end and the positioning end. The immobile end is provided on the sliding member. The operation member is provided on the positioning member and has a pushing portion, which is located at one end of the connecting section close to the positioning member. The positioning end is pressingly secured on the positioning portion and the operation member is located at the first limiting position, such that relative positions of the sliding member and the positioning member are fixed. When the operation member slides from the first limiting portion to the second limiting portion, the pushing portion pushes the connecting section such that the connecting section moves towards a direction away from the positioning member and drives the positioning end to depart from the positioning portion, thus enabling the sliding member to slide relative to the positioning member.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a latch mechanism provided by the present invention is suitable for locking a battery of an electronic device in a battery installation portion of the electronic device, and includes a sliding member, a positioning member, an elastic piece and an operation member. The sliding member has a second fastening portion and a mounting portion. The second fastening portion is fastened with a first fastening portion of the battery so as to lock the battery in the battery installation portion. The mounting portion is adjacent to the second fastening portion. The positioning member is positioned correspondingly to the mounting portion, and has a positioning portion, a first limiting portion and a second limiting portion. The positioning portion faces the mounting portion, and the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion are adjacent to the positioning portion. The elastic piece is provided between the mounting portion and the positioning portion, and has an immobile end, a positioning end, and a connecting section obliquely connecting the immobile end and the positioning end.

The immobile end is provided on the mounting portion. The operation member is provided on the positioning portion, and has a pushing portion that is located at one side of the connecting section close to the positioning member. The positioning end is pressingly secured on the positioning portion and the operation member is located at the first limiting portion, such that the relative positions of the first fastening portion and the second fastening portion are fixed. When the operation member slides from the first limiting portion to the second limiting portion, the pushing portion pushes the connecting section, such that the connecting section moves towards a direction away from the positioning member and drives the positioning end to depart from the positioning portion, further enabling the sliding member to slide relative to the positioning member and causing the second fastening portion to depart from the first fastening portion.

In a latch mechanism of the present invention, the operation member needs to slide on the positioning member and push the elastic piece to cause the positioning end of the elastic piece to depart from the positioning portion of the positioning member, in order to allow the sliding member to slide. When the latch mechanism of the present invention is applied to a battery of an electronic device, the battery can be removed from a battery installation portion of the electronic device only when the sliding member is in a sliding state. As such, when the electronic device impact or falls onto the ground while in a state where the positioning end is pressingly secured at the positioning portion, the battery does not depart from the battery installation portion. Therefore, the latch mechanism of the present invention ensures that the battery is not separated from the electronic device due to an impact or falling off of the electronic device, thereby preventing the issue of interrupted power supply caused by an accidental disengagement of the battery, as well as effectively reducing the risk of damaging the operation system or data.

To better understand the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention, details of the present invention are given in in the embodiments with the accompanying drawings below.

