Box for functional expansion of a portable electronic equipment

• US 5,737,541 A
• Filed: 03/30/1995
• Issued: 04/07/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Tottori Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Tottori Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Shimizu, Hisao, Asano, Norimitsu, Tanioka, Yoshio, Matsuoka, Yoshiaki, Sunagawa, Shoichi, Dohi, Hidemi
• Primary Examiner(s): AUVE, GLENN ALLEN
• Application Number:
  US08/413,777
• Time in Patent Office: 1,104 Days
• Field of Search: 395/281, 364/708.1, 361/683, 361/686, 361/725, 361/679, 439/358
• US Class Current: 710/303
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations

Abstract

A docking station box for functional expansion of portable electronic equipment that has a table with a vertically upstanding back wall to which is mounted a part of a connector corresponding to a connector part of the electronic equipment. The box includes at least one hook that is moved from a position below the table to one above the table to engage the electronic equipment to mount it securely thereon. The docking station box also includes a mechanism for thrusting the electronic equipment away from the position in which the connector parts of the box and the electronic equipment are engaged.

Claims

1. A docking station box for functional expansion of portable electronic equipment, said box comprising:

a horizontal table on which a portable electronic equipment is to be mounted;

a vertical wall at the rear of said table;

one half part of a connector fixed on said vertical wall for connection to another half part of the connector on the equipment, the connector halves to be connected by mounting the equipment on said table and then moving the equipment backward toward said vertical wall, and to be disconnected by moving the equipment forward;

at least one hook with a head, said at least one hook being rotatably mounted to said box to be rotated between a releasing position with said at least one hook under said table and a hooking position in which the head of said at least one hook projects above said table;

operating means for manipulating said at least one hook;

an aperture in said table corresponding to the location of a said at least one hook for letting the hook move therethrough, between said releasing position and said hooking position;

a manipulation member for manipulating said operating means from outside of the body of said box; and

a restraining means for restraining said manipulation member at a position so that said at least one hook is located in the releasing position.

2. The docking station box according to claim 1, further comprising:

a locking-up means for said operating means for locking-up said restraining means in a working position with said at least one hook in the hooking position.

3. The docking station box according to claim 1, further comprising:

a thrusting mechanism in said box which thrusts the equipment from a loading position in which the connector parts are connected to a disconnecting position in which the connector parts are disconnected, said thrusting mechanism being actuated by said manipulating member.

4. The docking station box according to claim 3, further comprising:

at least one aperture through said vertical wall;

at least one pusher inserted in a said aperture and being slidable in the front and rear directions of the box from a waiting position in which a front end of said at least one pusher is substantially flush with the front surface of said vertical wall to a projecting position in which the front end of said at least one pusher projects in front of said half part of said connector on said vertical wall;

a shaft supported on a part of the body of said box behind said vertical wall, said shaft being rotatable around a lateral axis, said shaft having at least one crank arm which connects said at least one pusher to the shaft, and

a manipulating member for manipulation from outside of the body of said box for actuating said thrusting mechanism.

5. The docking station box according to claim 4, further comprising:

a plurality of apertures through said vertical wall spaced in a lateral direction;

a said at least one pusher and crank arm set each corresponding to a respective one of said apertures; and

said half part of said connector of said box being located between a pair of said apertures.

6. The docking station box according to claim 4, wherein

said thrusting mechanism and said hook operating means are interlocked with each other, said at least one hook being moved from the releasing position to the hooking position after said pusher of said thrusting mechanism is moved from the projecting position to the waiting position, and said pusher of said thrusting mechanism being moved from the waiting position to the projecting position after said at least one hook is moved from the hooking position to the releasing position.

7. The docking station according to claim 1, further comprising:

a half part of at least one other connector supported by a retraction mechanism provided in the body of the box, said retraction mechanism moving said at least one other connector back from a utilizing position arranged to correspond to a said half part of a connector provided on said box vertical wall at proper intervals in longitudinal and lateral directions to a position which is at least one of under said table and behind said vertical wall.

8. The docking station box according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for detecting the loading of the electronic equipment on said table,

a power switch for starting the electronic equipment and providing a power switch signal,

means for supplying the body of said box with signals to be supplied to the electronic equipment through the connected connector parts which are required for starting the electronic equipment when said power switch is operated to provide the power switch signal and require starting when the electronic equipment is loaded on said table, and

means for starting which receives authorization signals for starting from the body of said box through said connected connector parts after the power switch signal is supplied from the equipment;

a lock mechanism; and

a security means which outputs System On signals indicating the system is on when it receives the power switch signals from the equipment while said lock mechanism is unlocked.

9. The docking station box according to claim 8, further comprising:

a switching circuit having a switch which is turned on and off due to interlocking with said lock mechanism and an output terminal connected to ground by said switch, said switching circuit being controlled with the power switch signals so as to be turned on and off and which outputs high-level signals in an on condition;

a dual input OR circuit, one of whose input terminals is connected with said switching circuit; and

an AND circuit, one of whose input terminals is connected with an output terminal of said OR circuit and the other of whose inputs is supplied with power switch signals, said AND circuit supplies the signals from an output terminal as said System On signals to the other input terminal of said OR circuit which are provided to said security means.

10. A docking station box for functional expansion of portable electronic equipment, said box comprising:

a horizontal table on which portable electronic equipment is mounted, said table having at least one aperture;

a vertical wall on said box;

one half part of a connector for connecting to said equipment being fixed on said vertical wall to receive another half part of said connector on said electronic equipment mounted on the table;

said table being slidable in a direction in which the connector of the equipment is inserted or pulled out;

said table provided with at least one means to decide the position of said equipment as being on said table, said box having at least one aperture for letting a hook pass through to be supported by the body of the box and slidable in a direction in which the connector of the equipment is inserted or pulled out;

a hook with a head, said hook pivotally supported by the body of said box in a position under said aperture when said table is located in a loading position in which the equipment mounted on the table is to be connected to the connector part on the body of said box; and

a spring on the body of said box which biases said hook toward a hooking position in which the head of said hook projects above said table, said hook head being located in the hooking position when the table is in the loading position and being pushed backward to a releasing position with said hook under said table by a rear edge of said aperture when the table is moved forward; and

at least one traction spring provided between said table and body of said box which biases said table forward.

11. The docking station box according to claim 10, further comprising:

means for determining the presence of portable electronic equipment on said table so that the equipment cannot be moved in a direction in which said connector parts can be disconnected, as well as to be skewed against the direction of movement provided for said table.

12. A docking station box according to claim 10, further comprising:

a stopper which stops said table in a predetermined foremost position on said box.

13. The docking station box according to claim 10, further comprising:

a stopping means on the body of said box and said table for restraining said table in said loading position; and

a releasing means on the body of said box for releasing said table from said stopping means.

14. The docking station box according to claim 10, wherein

a half part of at least one other connector on the body of said box is supported by a retraction mechanism to move back from said half part of said at least one other connector between a utilizing position above the table which corresponds to the half part of the connector provided on the box vertical wall at proper intervals in longitudinal and lateral directions to and a retracted position which is at least one of under the table and behind said box vertical wall;

and

a number of means with half parts of connectors on said box, at least one of which corresponds to the connector half part of the equipment on said table.

15. The docking station box according to claim 14, further comprising:

a manipulation member for operating said retraction mechanism from outside of the body of said box;

said retraction mechanism comprises a shaft rotatably supported around a lateral axis, and

at least one crank arm, one end of which is fixed to said shaft, and the other end of which supports the half part of the at least one other connector.

16. The docking station box according to claim 14, further comprising:

a first detecting means in front of said half part of said at least one other connector for detecting the type of equipment mounted on said table;

a second detecting means for detecting a half part of said at least one other connector when located in the foremost position on said table; and

an information means for indicating correspondence between the detected equipment and the detected half part of the other connector when they correspond with each other.

17. The docking station box according to claim 16, wherein

said table is provided with a stopper which in one position projects above said table to determine an equipment of a first size and in another position is depressed to an upper surface of the table by the weight of a second and larger size equipment mounted on said table;

and

said first detecting means detects the type of the electronic equipment mounted on the table by detecting the positional height of said stopper.

18. The docking station box according to claim 14, further comprising:

a thrusting mechanism which thrusts the equipment on said table from the loading position, in which any one type of equipment and the body of said box are connected by corresponding connector halves, to a disconnecting position in which said connector halves are disconnected.

19. The docking station box according to claim 18, further comprising:

a plurality of apertures each corresponding to the half part of a said at least one other connector through the vertical wall at intervals in a lateral direction; and

a plurality of holders each corresponding to a half part of a said at least one other connector which can move backward and be supported by said retraction mechanism, said plurality of holders being located by the retraction mechanism above said table when a half part of at least one other connecter is located in said utilizing position, and at least one of under the table and behind the vertical wall when a half part of said at least one other connecter is located in said retracted position, said plurality of holders being supported by said retraction mechanism to move between the utilizing position which is above said table and the retracted position which is at least one of under the table and behind the vertical wall;

a plurality of supplementary pushers for the corresponding half parts of said at least one other connector which can move backward and are supported by said holders so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction between a waiting position, in which the front end of said supplementary pushers are substantially flush with the front surface of said holders in the utilizing position, and a projecting position in which the front end of said supplementary pushers project forward from the front surface of the half parts of said at least one other connector supported by the retraction mechanism;

a plurality of springs corresponding to that of the half parts of the at least one other connector to bias the supplementary pushers toward the waiting position;

a plurality of primary pushers each corresponding to that of the half parts of the at least one other connector which extend through said apertures and are movable in the longitudinal direction of said primary pusher from a waiting position, in which the front end of each of said plurality of primary pushers is substantially flush with the vertical wall, to a projecting position in which said front ends project forward from the front end of the half part of said connector on said vertical wall;

a manipulating member operable from outside of the body of the box for operating said thrusting mechanism;

a shaft rotatably supported on the back of the vertical wall; and

a plurality of crank arms of a number corresponding to that of the half parts of the at least one other connector, the crank arms connecting the respective primary pushers with the shaft

said plurality of primary pushers being located behind said supplementary pushers in the utilizing position in order to move said supplementary pushers from the waiting position to the projecting position when the primary pushers are moved from the waiting position to the projecting position.

20. The docking station box according to claim 18, wherein

the apertures and at least one of the primary and supplementary pushers are located on both half parts of the connectors.

21. The docking station box according to claim 10, further comprising:

a thrusting mechanism which thrusts said table or the equipment mounted on the table from the loading position to a disconnecting position in which the connector half parts are disconnected.

22. The docking station box according to claim 21, further comprising:

a stopping means for restraining said table at the loading position; and

a releasing means which releases the table from the stopping means wherein

said thrusting mechanism is interlocked with said stopping means and releasing means to restrict the stopping means in a working condition operation when the table is in the loading position, the thrusting mechanism switching the stopping means to be out of operation just before the table starts to move from the loading position to the disconnecting position.

23. The docking station box according to claim 10, further comprising:

at least one damper attached to the body of said box or to the table to damp forward movement of said table.

24. The docking station box according to claim 23, wherein

said damper is supported on either of a surface of the body of the box facing said table or a bottom surface of the table, said damper comprising a rotary shaft and a rotary damper with a damper gear fixed to the rotary shaft, and a rack gear which engages with said damper and extends in front and rear directions on opposite sides of the rotary damper.

25. The docking station box according to claim 24, wherein said damper system further comprises:

a one-way clutch between said damper gear and rotary shaft of the damper.

26. The docking station box according to claim 23, further comprising:

a rack gear extending in front and rear directions on a surface of the body of the box facing a lower surface of said table;

a sensing lever pivoted around a lateral axis on said table;

an aperture in said table through which the top end of the sensing lever is accessible to move up and down,

a spring which biases said sensor lever with the top end thereof projecting above said table, a rotary damper supported by the other end of said sensing lever, and

a damper gear fixed to a rotary shaft of the rotary damper and engaged with said rack gear when said top end of said sensing lever projects above said table.

27. The docking station box according to claim 26, wherein said damper further comprises:

a one-way clutch between said damper gear and said rotary shaft of said damper.

28. The docking station box according to claim 23, further comprising:

a rack gear extending in front and rear directions of the box on a surface of the body of the box facing a lower surface of said table;

an intermediate gear engaged with one end of the rack gear;

a planetary gear engaged with the intermediate gear;

a rotary shaft; and

a rotary damper fixed to the rotary shaft, said rotary damper having a damper gear engaged with said planetary gear when it rotates in one direction around the axis of said intermediate gear, and supported by said upper surface of the body of said box or a lower surface of said table.

29. The docking station box according to claim 23, further comprising:

a rack gear extending in front and rear directions of said box on a surface of the body of the box facing a lower surface of said table;

a sensing lever rotatably mounted on said table;

an aperture for said table through which a top end of the sensing lever moves between above and under the table;

a spring which biases the sensor lever to have its top end project above said table,

a rotary damper fixed on a lower surface of said table, said rotary damper having a rotary shaft and a damper gear fixed to the rotary shaft,

an intermediate gear on the body of said box in back of the rotary damper, the damper gear engaging with said rack gear,

a planetary gear engaged with the intermediate gear in back of said rotatable damper and the damper gear, and

a retraining mechanism driven by said sensing lever which disengages said planetary gear and said damper gear when the sensing lever is depressed to the upper surface of said table to allow the planetary gear to move to a position in which said planetary gear and said damper gear are engaged when the sensing lever projects above the upper surface of said table.

30. The docking station box according to claim 10, further comprising:

a CRT mounting board on an upper side of the body of said box which supports a CRT.

31. The docking station box according to claim 30, wherein

the table on which the electronic equipment is mounted is provided on the body of the box slidable in back and forth directions;

and

the front edge of said CRT mounting board being located at the rear edge of said table when said table is in its foremost position.