Back to results
US 12,573,792 B2Granted
Retractable connector
AssigneeMicrosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
InventorsMinh Cao Nguyen, David Scott Allaway, Gianna Marie Morena
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A connector includes a housing including a plug opening and a cable opening. A cable extends through the cable opening away from the housing. An electronic plug is connected to the cable within the housing and extends through the plug opening away from the housing. The electronic plug is selectively moveable relative to the housing between an extended position and a retracted position when a pulling force is applied to the cable. A bias mechanism biases the electronic plug to the extended position.
Claims18
A connector comprising:
- a housing including a plug opening and a cable opening;
- a connecting magnet within the housing, wherein the connector is removably affixable to an electronic device based at least on a magnetic attraction between the connecting magnet and the electronic device;
- a cable extending through the cable opening away from the housing;
- an electronic plug connected to the cable within the housing, wherein the electronic plug is selectively moveable between an extended position and a retracted position;
- and
- a bias mechanism including a bias magnet operatively coupled to the electronic plug, the bias mechanism biasing the electronic plug to the extended position based at least on a magnetic attraction between the bias magnet and the connecting magnet.
3 more elements
A connector comprising:
- a housing including a plug opening and a cable opening;
- a connecting magnet within the housing, wherein the connector is removably affixable to an electronic device based at least on a magnetic attraction between the connecting magnet and the electronic device;
- a cable extending through the cable opening away from the housing;
- an electronic plug connected to the cable within the housing and extending through the plug opening away from the housing, wherein the electronic plug and the cable are selectively moveable relative to the housing between an extended position and a retracted position;
- and
- a bias mechanism including a bias magnet operatively coupled to the electronic plug, the bias mechanism biasing the electronic plug to the extended position based at least on a magnetic attraction between the bias magnet and the connecting magnet.
3 more elements
A connector comprising:
- a housing including a plug opening and a cable opening;
- a connecting magnet within the housing, wherein the connector is removably affixable to an electronic device based at least on a magnetic attraction between the connecting magnet and the electronic device;
- a cable extending through the cable opening away from the housing;
- an electronic plug connected to the cable within the housing and extending through the plug opening away from the housing, wherein the electronic plug and the cable are selectively moveable relative to the housing between an extended position and a retracted position based at least on a pulling force applied to the cable;
- and
- a bias mechanism including a bias magnet operatively coupled to the electronic plug, the bias mechanism biasing the electronic plug to the extended position based at least on a magnetic attraction between the bias magnet and the connecting magnet, wherein a magnetic strength between the bias magnet and the connecting magnet is less than a magnetic strength between the connecting magnet and the electronic device, such that the electronic plug moves to the retracted position before the pulling force exceeds a breakaway force sufficient to remove the connector from the electronic device.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.