COMPUTER WITH TELEPHONE
Background of the Invention
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer with a telephone, and more particularly, to a computer with a telephone in which the connection structure between the computer and the telephone is improved.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, as an information-oriented society has been established, a new service incorporating computer and communication technologies has been proposed. For example, as the Internet is commonly used and the E-business becomes active, new services have been constructed. Despite such circumstances, the telephone is widely used in daily life and its service is provided through a general telephone network separately from a computer communication network using either an Internet network or a packet network. Meanwhile, most people have used a built-in modem or a stand- alone modem so as to connect the computer to either the Internet network or the packet network via the general telephone network. Since the modem shares telephone lines with the telephone, the user can not use the telephone while the modem is being used.
The connection between the telephone and the modem line is achieved by means of a connection port which is located in the back side of the modem, but the telephone physically separates from the modem. Since the computer and the telephone occupy relatively large space if they are separately located as above, methods of attaching the telephone to the computer have been proposed to overcome the problem. However, in a conventional computer with the telephone, there is a need for handling the telephone lines which cause the user's inconvenience by being exposed in his working space.
Summary of the Invention
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a computer with a telephone in which the user's inconvenience due to the exposed telephone lines can be removed by minimizing the space required for installing the telephone. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a computer with a telephone comprising a member for supporting the telephone to a computer case, a connector disposed at the back side of the computer case for inserting an external telephone line out of a modem inside the computer case, and at least an adapter disposed within the computer case for inserting a telephone line of the telephone inside the computer case, wherein the telephone line out of the connector is divided into at least one telephone line to be connected to the adapter and a connection jack of the telephone is connected to the adapter, so that the telephone can be mounted to the computer case in various directions. In addition, a computer with a telephone according to the present invention further comprises a latch wheel disposed within the computer case for winding the internal telephone line thereon, wherein the telephone line out of the latch wheel is connected to the telephone via a hole of the computer case.
According to the above embodiments, the connection structure between the computer and the telephone can be simplified by removing an additional space required for installing the telephone, which accommodates the user's convenience.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a computer with a telephone according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows an example of a telephone employed in the present invention; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a computer with a telephone according to the present invention; and
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a computer with a telephone according to the present invention.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment
The present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 through 4. Throughout the drawings, like or equivalent reference numerals or letters will be used to designate like or equivalent elements for simplicity of explanation.
FIG.l shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of a computer with a telephone. An external telephone line 101 is connected to a connection port of a modem 102 which is located at a back side of a computer case 100 so as to connect the modem 102 to a telephone network. In addition, a connection terminal 103 is disposed within the computer case 100 so as to insert an external telephone line 104 out of another connection port of the modem 102 into inside the computer system. An external telephone line 105 out of the connection terminal 103 is divided into five lines 106a to 106e which are extended toward the left, right, top, bottom and front sides of the computer case 100, respectively. A connection jack 107 is attached to each of the five telephone lines 106a to 106e and is connected to a bi-directional adapter 108 attached to the computer case 100 or a computer bay (not shown). A hole 109 is formed on the computer case 100 corresponding to the bi-directional adapter 108 so that a connection jack Ilia of a telephone line 111 connected to a handset 110 can be inserted into a desired bi-directional adapter 108. The handset 110 is supported on a telephone base 112 which is attached on the computer case 100.
The telephone base 112 in FIG.l is shown illustratively only. Thus instead of the telephone base 112, a handset-shaped groove, a protrusion or a hole capable of supporting the telephone can be employed at a predetermined location close to the connection jack 108 on the computer case 100.
The telephone base 112 can be disposed on each side of the computer case 100 according to the direction in which the telephone is attached to the computer case 100.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a handset- shaped telephone is used as the telephone 110 as shown in FIG.2. Referring to FIG.2, a hook key 122 for hook on and off operations, a keypad 123, a pose button 126 and a redialing button 127 are disposed between a receiver 121 and a transmitter 124. The keypad 123 comprises numeric keys for dialing, * and # keys. The telephone 110 can operate during power source of the computer system is off.
The telephone 110 can be easily separated from the computer system by drawing the connection jack Ilia of the telephone line 111 out of the bi-directional adapter 108. Also, the telephone base 112 can separate from the computer case 100 and be attached to any desired location of the computer case 100. Consequently, the telephone 110 can be easily disposed upon any surface of the computer case 100 by means of one of the bi-directional adapters regardless of installment directions of the computer system.
FIG.3 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of a computer with a telephone, in which a handset-shaped groove 131 is integral with the computer case 100.
Referring to FIG.3, a conventional latch wheel 130 is arranged inside the computer case 100 so as to wind the telephone line 111 thereon. The latch wheel 130 rotates in a predetermined direction so that the telephone line 111 can be unwound in the case that a user holds and pulls the telephone 110. Meanwhile, if the user puts the telephone 110 on a protrusion base 117, the telephone line 111 is rewound on the latch wheel 130 depending on its restoring force. The restoring force is provided by a spring (not shown) disposed on the axis of the latch wheel 130. A hanger (not shown) for controlling the locking of the latch wheel 130 can be added on the front edge of the latch wheel 130. In FIG.3, the telephone line is inserted inside the computer case 100 via the connection terminal 103 and is connected to the bi-directional adapter 108 to be wound on the latch wheel 130. The telephone line out of the latch wheel 130 is connected to the telephone 110 attached to the computer case through the hole 109 close to the latch wheel 130. Referring to FIG.4, the telephone line 105 out of the connection terminal 103 is divided into five lines and each of the five telephone lines is connected to the bidirectional adapter 108 then to be wound on a latch wheel 201. The latch wheel 201 can be disposed at any surface of the computer case. In the embodiment shown in FIG.4, the latch wheel 201 is disposed at the left, right, top, bottom or front surface of the computer case. A connection jack 202 is attached to one end of the telephone line wound on the latch wheel 201 so as to be connected to the telephone and the bidirectional adapter 108 is connected to other end thereof.
In FIG. 4, a telephone base is not shown with regard to the computer case for simplicity of explanation, but the telephone base can be attached to the desired surfaces of the computer case in a manner that is described with regard to the first embodiment.
Since the elements which have the same reference numerals in FIGS. 3 and 4 as those of FIG.l have substantially the same structure and operation, respective description will be avoided.
In the above embodiments of the present invention, the telephone line connected to the telephone network is connected to the connection terminal via the modem. On the other hand, the telephone line of the network side can be directly connected to the connection terminal if the modem is not used in the computer system.
As described above, according to the present invention, a groove or a hole capable of supporting a telephone thereon is formed on each surface of the computer case or a protrusion-shaped telephone base is mounted on each surface of the computer case. As a result, the connection structure between the computer and the telephone can be simplified by removing an additional space required for installing the telephone, which accommodates the user's convenience.
While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be t he most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment, but, on the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.