[Ti] How does the screen latch work?

[Dennis Fazio]

--On Sunday, March 09, 2003 09:06 PM -0800 Jerry Krinock <dearjerry at mindspring.com> wrote:

> have this ghastly hook hanging down from the screen.  Apple has apparently
> invented a way to hide the hook.   How do they do it?

My observation is that there is a simple spring-held hinged hook in the lid (you can even make it come down manually by taking your thumbnail and running it left to right over the hook hole to swing it out). When the lid approached the base, a magnetic force pulls it down and it then catches under a latch holding surface. This surface is manually pushed back when you push the "open" button and the latch springs back into the lid and the lid pops up from tension in the hinges. Since the PowerBook sleeps before the latch springs down, the sleep switch is not mechanical but magnetic. My guess is that the magnet that pulls the hook down also detects the presence of the lid and opens (or closes) causing sleep mode.

The first thing to do is to lubricate the latch hinge in the lid. I've used silicone spray (preferably dripped in with the lid all the way open facing up. Spraying from the can with the little nozzle will shoot it all over the place, he says from experience :-) ) or perhaps you can try graphite, like in lock deicers. Then see if you can manually get it to swing down with your fingernail or even a small magnet to verify there is no mechanical alignment damage.

If you look inside the slot in the base, you can verify the movement of the catch surface as you press on the release button. If everything works, it should catch and release OK.

--
Dennis Fazio
dfz at mac.com