Modular computing housing assembly

A modular computing housing assembly, comprising:

• a box-shaped enclosure including a top panel, bottom panel, back panel, first side panel, and second side panel, the enclosure defining a front opening and an internal volume configured to hold multiple internal components of a main computing device therein;
• a front lid removably coupled to the enclosure and covering the front opening to enclose at least a portion of the inner volume, the front lid including a front portion, a first side portion, and a second side portion, wherein both of the first and second side portions include one or more side openings configured to allow sets of computing ports to protrude therethrough;
• a first side cover removably coupled to the first side panel of the enclosure, the first side cover including an outer face, an inner face, and computing port plugs extending from the inner face and configured to plug a first set of computing ports protruding through the one or more side openings of the first side portion of the front lid, the first side cover covering at least a portion of the first side portion of the front lid and at least a portion of the first side panel of the enclosure, wherein removal of the first side cover exposes the first set of computing ports such that the first set of computing ports can be directly plugged into a corresponding set of exposed computing ports on a first separate computing device when the main computing device and the first separate computing device are placed side-by-side;
• and
• a second side cover removably coupled to the second side panel of the enclosure, the second side cover including an outer face, an inner face, and computing port plugs extending from the inner face and configured to plug a second set of computing ports protruding through the one or more side openings of the second side portion of the front lid, the second side cover covering at least a portion of the second side portion of the front lid and at least a portion of the second side panel of the enclosure, wherein removal of the second side cover exposes the second set of computing ports such that the second set of computing ports can be directly plugged into a corresponding set of exposed computing ports on a second separate computing device when the main computing device and the second separate computing device are placed side-by-side;
• and
• a mounting arrangement located along an outer surface of the enclosure back panel, the mounting arrangement including multiple bistate spring clips configured to operate in at least a first state and a second state, wherein pushing the mounting arrangement orthogonally against a separate external rail results in actuating the mounting arrangement to lock onto and mount the entire modular computing housing assembly onto the separate external rail.

A method of using a modular computing housing assembly, the method comprising:

• removing a first side cover from a first side of a first modular computing housing assembly of a first computing device, the modular computing housing assembly having a box-shaped enclosure, a front lid, first and second side covers, and a mounting arrangement, the first side cover including an outer face, an inner face, and computing port plugs extending from the inner face, wherein removing the first side cover unplugs the computing port plugs from and exposes a first set of computing ports on the first computing device;
• coupling the first computing device with a second computing device by directly plugging the exposed first set of computing ports into a corresponding exposed set of computing ports on the second computing device, wherein the coupling results in the first and second computing devices being arranged side-by-side;
• and
• mounting the first and second computing devices to an external rail using a mounting arrangement located along an outer surface of an enclosure back panel of each of the first and second computing devices, each mounting arrangement including multiple bistate spring clips, wherein pushing each mounting arrangement against the external rail results in actuating the mounting arrangement to lock onto and mount the entire computing device onto the external rail.