Granted Patent B2

US 7,744,387 · App. 12/050,754 · Granted Jun 29, 2010

Assignee: Super Talent Electronics, Inc.

Abstract

Claims (20)

1. A portable universal serial bus (USB) storage device, comprising:

a core unit having a USB plug connector coupled to one or more multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory devices and an MLC flash controller disposed therein, the MLC flash controller controlling the one or more MLC flash memory devices and the USB plug connector providing an interface for accessing the one or more MLC flash memory devices;

a housing having a top housing and a bottom housing for enclosing the MLC flash memory devices and the MLC flash controller of the core unit, wherein the top housing and the bottom housing when attached together form a frontend opening to allow the USB plug connector to be exposed externally to the housing, wherein each of the top housing and button housing further includes a rivet opening at a backend of the top and bottom housings; and

a swivel cap having a top surface and a bottom surface by bending a flat panel into a U-shape block having an opening end, a close end, and at least one side-opening, wherein the top and bottom surfaces of the swivel cap include a rivet opening align with each other,

wherein the housing having the core unit therein is sandwiched by the swivel cap using a set of rivets through the rivet openings of the housings and the swivel cap, wherein the core unit having the USB plug connector and the MLC controller and memory devices enclosed by the housing can be rotated with respect to the rivet set in and out of the swivel cap, and wherein when the core unit is swiveled into the swivel cap, the core unit is locked in a retracted position from which the core unit can be deployed by pressing from a side-opening of the swivel cap to unlock the core unit from the swivel cap,

wherein each of the side-opening of the swivel cap comprises a set of lock tabs, including a first lock tab disposed on the top surface and a second lock tab disposed on the bottom surface of the swivel cap, and wherein when core unit is retracted into the swivel cap, the core unit are locked by the first and second lock tabs to retain the core unit sandwiched by the swivel cap,

wherein when the core unit is pushed from a side-opening of the swivel cap from the retracted position, the core unit is unlocked from the first and second lock tabs and swiveled out from the swivel cap to be deployed in a deployed position,

wherein a side-opening of the swivel cap includes a front portion and a back portion formed by the top and bottom surfaces of the swivel cap, wherein back portion is sufficiently large enough to receive the housing of the core unit enclosing the MLC flash controller and the MLC flash memory devices, wherein the front portion is narrower than the back portion but large enough to receive the USB plug connector of the core unit when the core unit is swiveled into the swivel cap,

wherein the first lock tab is disposed on an inner wall of the front portion of the top surface of the swivel cap, wherein the second lock tab is disposed on an inner wall of the front portion of the bottom surface of the swivel cap, wherein when the core unit is swiveled into the swivel cap, the first lock tab engages with an upper edge of the USB plug connector of the core unit while the second lock tab engages with a lower edge of the USB plug connector of the core unit, and wherein the engaged first and second lock tabs securely position the core unit within and sandwiched by the swivel cap,

wherein the first and second lock tabs are made of elastic material and tilted inwardly away from the side opening of the swivel cap, wherein when the core unit is swiveled into the swivel cap, the first and second lock tabs are resiliently pushed further inwardly to allow the USB plug connector past the first and second lock tabs, wherein the first and second lock tabs resiliently snap back to natural positions against a back side of the USB plug connector once the USB plug connector moves bypass the first and second lock tabs which securely positions the core unit within the swivel cap, and

wherein the first lock tab is a first upper lock tab and the second lock tab is a first lower lock tab disposed near a first side opening of the swivel cap, wherein a second side opening of the swivel further includes a second upper lock tab disposed on the top surface and a second lower lock tab disposed on the bottom surface near a second side opening of the swivel cap, wherein when the core unit is swiveled into the swivel cap from the first side opening towards the second side opening, the first upper and lower lock tabs resiliently push the USB plug connector forward while the second upper and lower lock tabs resiliently push the USB plug connector backward to position the core unit in a relatively central position within the swivel cap.

2. The portable USB device of claim 1 , wherein the core unit is swiveled into the swivel cap and approaching the first side opening, a front side of the USB plug connector pushes the first upper and lower lock tabs inwardly and causes the first upper and lower lock tabs to snap back against an upper side and a lower side of the USB plug connector respectively once edges of the front side past the first upper and lower lock tabs, until the front side of the USB plug connector engage with the second upper and lower lock tabs of the second side opening of the swivel cap.

3. The portable USB device of claim 2 , wherein the front side of the USB plug connector pushes the second upper and lower lock tabs of the second side opening outwardly until a back side of the USB plug connector is pushed past the first upper and lower lock tabs, wherein when a pushing force is released, the first upper and lower lock tabs resiliently press forwardly on the back side of the USB plug connector while the second upper and lower lock tabs resiliently press backwardly on the front side of the USB plug connector to position the core unit in a relatively central position within the swivel cap.

4. The portable USB device of claim 3 , wherein when the core unit is deployed from the swivel cap, the core unit is pushed from the first side opening which causes the USB plug connector to push the second upper and lower lock tabs outwardly until the second upper and lower lock tabs bend past edges of the front side of the USB plug connector.

5. The portable USB device of claim 1 , wherein the core unit further comprises a fingerprint sensor exposed externally via a finger print cutout of the top housing, wherein when the core unit is deployed, the fingerprint sensor is exposed to allow a finger of a user to be scanned to obtain an identity of the user to determine whether the user is eligible to access content stored in the MLC flash memory devices.

6. The portable USB device of claim 1 , wherein the core unit is implemented in one of a regular PCB (printed circuit board) package, a slim flash memory package and a COB (chip on bard) package, and wherein the top housing and the bottom housing are attached to each other via a snap together mechanism or an ultrasonic welding technique.

7. The portable USB device of claim 1 , wherein the set of rivets comprises a female tubular rivet having a contact surface and a hollow tube and a male blind rivet having a contact surface and a mandrel, wherein the core unit and the swivel cap are attached together by compressing the mandrel of the male blind rivet into the hollow tube of the female tubular rivet in which the contact surfaces of the female tubular rivet and the male blind rivet are configured to fasten the core unit and the swivel cap together.

8. The portable USB device of claim 7 , wherein the top and bottom housing of the core unit and the top and bottom surface of the swivel cap comprise a corresponding rivet opening to allow the hollow tube of the female tubular rivet and the mandrel of the male blind rivet go through to be compressed into each other.

9. The portable USB device of claim 1 , wherein the set of rivets comprises a tubular rivet with a contact surface and a rivet cap, wherein the core unit and the swivel cap are attached together by compressing the tubular rivet and the rivet cap together in which the contact surface of the tubular rivet and the rivet cap are configured to fasten the core unit and the swivel cap together.

10. The portable USB device of claim 1 , wherein the set of rivets comprises a first set and a second set, wherein the first set is to fasten the top surface of the swivel cap and the top surface of the housing together while the second set is to fasten the bottom surface of the swivel cap and the bottom surface of the bottom housing together.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (18)