Docking station
AssigneeTempus Computers Limited
InventorRichard Anthony Abram
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A computer dock having a device for protecting a portable computer against damage during vertical or inclined insertion within the computer dock. The computer dock includes an abutment member, slidably mounted on a rail, and biased to an upper position when the dock is not in use; the abutment member moving downwardly as a result of abutment against a portable computer during insertion, and at the same time exerting an upward force that at least in part counteracts the downward force of gravity acting on the portable computer.
Claims13
A computer dock comprising a device for protecting a portable computer against damage during vertical or inclined insertion within the computer dock comprising:
- an abutment member biased to an upper position when the dock is not in use;
- said abutment member moving downwardly as a result of abutment against a portable computer during insertion and at the same time exerting an upward force that at least in part counteracts the downward force of gravity acting on the portable computer,
- wherein the abutment member is biased by resilient means, the resilient means being a spring or pneumatic damper, and
- wherein, in use, the longitudinal axis of the spring or pneumatic damper extends along a line that is at an acute angle to the direction of movement of the abutment member.
A computer dock comprising:
- an enclosure including vertical or inclined first and second tracks to receive a portable computer between the tracks;
- the tracks being configured to accept insertion of the portable computer in only one direction;
- a device for protecting a portable computer against damage during vertical or inclined insertion within the computer dock, the device comprising an abutment member biased to an upper position when the dock is not in use;
- said abutment member moving downwardly as a result of abutment against the portable computer during insertion between the tracks and at the same time exerting an upward force that at least in part counteracts the downward force of gravity acting on the portable computer;
- and
- an electrical interface terminal, wherein the docking station is configured such that the electrical interface terminal can only make electrical contact with the portable computer when the portable computer is fully inserted in the computer dock.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.