Hand held docking station with deployable light source, rechargeable battery pack and recessed grip, for connecting to a palm top computer

A hand-holdable docking station adapted for mechanical and electrical connection with a palmtop computer, the docking station comprising:

• a housing having a top, a bottom, a left side, a right side, and front and back faces, the housing for enclosing and defining an interior volume;
• means for securely affixing a palmtop computer to the docking station;
• means for illuminating the screen of an attached palmtop computer, the illumination means disposed such that the entire screen is unobstructed when viewed from a position normal to the screen, the illumination means further having an illumination footprint substantially equal to the plane dimensions of the computer screen;
• a rechargeable battery pack disposed within the housing, the battery pack providing power to the illumination means and the attached palmtop computer;
• coupling means connected between the docking station and the palmtop computer for effecting electrical communication therebetween;
• and
• grasping means formed in the back face of the housing, the grasping means including a recess disposed in the back face of the housing into which the fingers of a human hand may be inserted, the grasping means positioned such that when grasped, no part of a human hand obscures the screen of an attached palmtop computer.

A hand-holdable docking station adapted for mechanical and electrical connection with a palmtop computer, the docking station comprising:

• a housing;
• means for securely affixing a palmtop computer to the housing;
• a deployable light source, housed/stored in a receptacle, provided in the housing, when the light source is in an undeployed position, the light source being deployable to a position such that the illumination footprint illuminates the screen of an attached palmtop computer, wherein the light source is positioned such that it does not obscure the screen;
• a rechargeable battery pack disposed within the housing, the battery pack for providing power to the deployable light source and the attached palmtop computer;
• coupling means connected between the docking station and the palmtop computer for effecting electrical communication therebetween;
• and
• means for grasping the housing, the grasping means providing for ergonomic positioning of a human hand to allow substantially fatigue free handling of the docking station, the grasping means further for positioning a grasping hand such that the hand does not obscure viewing of the attached palmtop computer screen.