Locking link rod structure for a docking station

• US 20070070598A1
• Filed: 09/27/2005
• Published: 03/29/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inventec Corporation
• Original Assignee: Inventec Corporation
• Inventors: Chuang, Cheng-Hsiang
• Granted Patent: US 7,381,079 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/679.430
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations

Abstract

A locking link rod structure for a docking station that includes a main body, a switch link rod installed in the main body, two holes disposed separately and proximate to an end of the switch link rod, a lock hole disposed on the main body and corresponding to the two holes for locking an external lock such as a cable lock, and thus the lock link rod structure is capable of locking a notebook computer with the docking station, so as to prevent the notebook computer and/or the docking station from being taken away or stolen by other people.

Claims

1. A locking link rod structure for a docking station, being installed on a notebook computer, and said docking station comprising:

a main body, having a lock hole and an ON/OFF hole separately disposed on a side board of said main body, and a retaining base being protruded from a side of said main body, and retaining base having a connector, and said connector having a movable pillar and a movable hook disposed separately on both sides of said connector;

a switch link rod, movably disposed in said main body and having two holes disposed proximate to an end of said switch link rod and corresponding to said lock hole of said main body, and a locking switch being disposed at an end of said switch link rod and proximate to said two holes, and said locking switch being exposed from said ON/OFF hole of said main body;

a release button, being exposed from said main body and disposed at another end of said switch link rod, and controlled by said switch link rod; and

a link rod, disposed in said main body and being in a U-shape, and a transversal rod of said link rod being precisely in contact with the bottom of said release button, and a suspending arm being extended separately from both ends of said transversal rod, and the front end of said two suspending arms being situated precisely at the bottom of said two pillars and said two hooks for controlling the movements of said two pillars and said two hooks.

2. The locking link rod structure for a docking station of claim 1, wherein said switch link rod includes two support rods extended from another end of said switch link rod and having a specific distance apart, and said two support rods are disposed across a blocking board, and said blocking board includes a penetrating hole at the center, and said blocking board is limited in a limit section inside a housing of said main body, and said limit section includes another penetrating hole disposed at the center, and said other penetrating hole corresponds with said penetrating hole, and said release button is situated above said penetrating hole of said blocking board.

3. The locking link rod structure for a docking station of claim 2, wherein said switch link rod includes two sliding grooves disposed on a rod body of said switch link rod and having a specific distance apart, and said two sliding grooves include a fixing pillar therein.

4. The locking link rod structure for a docking station of claim 1, wherein said two suspending arms separately include a pivot disposed proximate to said two pillars and said two hooks and pivotally coupled to the backside of said retaining base, and said transversal rod includes a spring separately disposed at both ends of said transversal rod to hold up the backside of said retaining base.

5. The locking link rod structure for a docking station of claim 4, wherein said two hooks of said main body are pivotally coupled onto the backside of said retaining base by another pivots, and said two other pivots separately include a limit spring.

6. The locking link rod structure for a docking station of claim 1, wherein said retaining base includes an electromagnetic interference resisting device disposed separately and proximate to both ends of said connector.