Housing feature for providing stability for a portable terminal

• US 20100073869A1
• Filed: 09/22/2008
• Published: 03/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Psion Inc (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Psion Teklogix (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Xu, Bo, Gandhi, Dinesh, Mangaroo, Alan
• Granted Patent: US 7,787,239 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/679.550
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0004 Hybrid readers
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10881 constructional details of hand-held scanners

Abstract

A portable computing device including a housing having a top surface and a bottom surface connected to one another by a pair of sides, a proximal end and a distal end, the top surface including a user interface for operation by a user. The device comprises a planar surface located on the bottom surface at the proximal end, such that the planar surface extends to either side of a centerline of the housing and in a direction towards the distal end. The planar surface defines a plane and the centerline extends in a direction between the proximal end and the distal end. The device has at least one protrusion located on the bottom surface at the distal end, such that the at least one protrusion extends between the bottom surface and the plane, such that the at least one protrusion has a respective peripheral surface lying on the plane on both sides of the centerline. The at least one protrusion and the planar surface provide stability of the device when placed on a surface adjacent to the bottom surface, the stability facilitating operation of the user interface by the user.

Claims

1. A portable computing device including a housing having a top surface and a bottom surface connected to one another by a pair of sides, a proximal end and a distal end, the top surface including a user interface for operation by a user, the device comprising:

a planar surface located on the bottom surface at the proximal end, the planar surface extending to either side of a centerline of the housing and in a direction towards the distal end, the planar surface defining a plane, the centerline extending in a direction between the proximal end and the distal end;

at least one protrusion located on the bottom surface at the distal end, the at least one protrusion extending between the bottom surface and the plane, such that the at least one protrusion has a respective peripheral surface lying on the plane on both sides of the centerline;

wherein the at least one protrusion and the planar surface provide stability of the device when placed on a surface adjacent to the bottom surface, the stability facilitating operation of the user interface by the user.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one protrusion is a first protrusion positioned on the bottom surface on one side of the center line and a second protrusion positioned in the bottom surface on the other side of the center line.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the peripheral surfaces of the first protrusion and the second protrusion are arcuate.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one protrusion is an elongate protrusion positioned on the bottom surface and extending on both sides of the center line.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the peripheral surface of the elongate protrusion is arcuate.

6. The device of claim 2, wherein the planar surface is provided as a bottom surface of a power source cover to define the plane, such that the planar bottom surface of the power source cover extends towards both sides on either side of the center line and extends in a direction towards both the proximal and distal ends, the power source cover coupled to the bottom surface of the housing.

7. The device of claim 2, wherein the planar surface is provided as a raised rim around a periphery of at least a portion of a bottom surface of a power source cover, such that the rim has a peripheral surface that defines the plane that is in common with the peripheral surface of the at least one projection.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the rim selected from the group comprising:

continuous; and

a plurality of discontinuous sections.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the peripheral surface of the rim is arcuate.

10. The device of claim 6, wherein the user interface includes a keypad located at one of the ends and a display located at the other of the ends.

11. The device of claim 6, wherein the keypad is located at the proximal end.

12. The device of claim 6 further comprising a secondary contoured housing coupled to the bottom surface of the housing at the distal end.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the first and second protrusions are located on the secondary housing.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the secondary housing is configured to contain an antenna.

15. The device of claim 14 wherein the bottom surface of the power source cover includes a grip portion made of a resilient material for enhancing the grip between the cover and the adjacent work surface.