Portable device and concentrator therefor

• US 6,226,176 B1
• Filed: 04/21/1999
• Issued: 05/01/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Takahashi, Takayuki, Hayashi, Kiyotsugu, Torii, Munehiro, Horie, Kenzo, Nambu, Keiji, Gotoh, Hirokazu
• Primary Examiner(s): Picard, Leo P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEA EDMONDS, LISA S
• Application Number:
  US09/295,327
• Time in Patent Office: 741 Days
• Field of Search: 361/679-686, 364/708.1, 439/345, 439/357, 439/377, 439/385, 439/929, 320/107, 320/110-116, 320/119
• US Class Current: 361/679.4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1634 Integrated protective display lid, e.g. for touch-sensitive display in handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 439/929 Connecting base plate or shelf type holder

Abstract

A portable device includes a portable device body, a touch panel provided on a surface of the device body, and a cover pivotally coupled to the device body for covering the touch panel when it is closed and uncovering the touch panel when it is opened. The portable device further includes a window provided at the cover to allow the touch panel to be seen through the window when the cover is closed. The portable device further includes a button provided at a position on the cover corresponding to the touch panel. The button is operable from an outer side of the cover to control an operation of the touch panel while the cover is closed. A concentrator includes a concentrator body and a device receiving unit attached to the concentrator body for receiving therein the portable device so as to perform data transmission and reception and/or power feeding relative to the portable device. The device receiving unit is capable of receiving the portable device of any size within a given range and performing the data transmission and reception and/or the power feeding relative to the portable device received therein.

Claims

1. A concentrator comprising:

a concentrator body;

a device receiving unit attached to said concentrator body for receiving therein a portable device and for performing at least one of data transmission, data reception, and power feeding relative to a portable device;

said device receiving unit comprising confronting, bottom, front-side and rear-side walls defining a well for receiving therein a portable device, said confronting wall oriented normal to an insertion direction of a portable device for receiving a portable device thereon, said bottom wall for supporting a portable device wherein the confronting wall and bottom wall form a corner, said front-side wall and rear-side wall for abutting sides of a portable device wherein the front side and rear side walls are substantially entirely planar, are separated by and cornered with the confronting and bottom walls, and do not converge or have converging protuberances so that the well is fully open to the exterior in directions away perpendicular from said bottom wall and from said confronting wall, respectively.

2. The concentrator to claim 1, wherein said confronting and bottom walls are downwardly inclined from a horizontal plane.

3. The concentrator according to claim 2, wherein the well of said device receiving unit is further gradually inclined downwardly in a direction toward one of said front-side wall and said rear-side wall.

4. The concentrator according to claim 3, wherein said device receiving unit is provided with a charging terminal insertion opening, a positioning portion and an optical communication section, and wherein at least one of said charging terminal insertion opening, said positioning portion and said optical communication section is precisely located for connecting with a complementary terminal, portion or section of a portable device positioned using said confronting wall and said one of said front-side wall and said rear-side wall as first reference planes.

5. The concentrator according to claim 4 in combination with a portable device, wherein said portable device is provided with a charging terminal, a positioning portion and an optical communication element for abutting said bottom wall of the device receiving unit, and wherein at least one of said charging terminal, said positioning portion and said optical communication element of said portable device is precisely positioned by a wall of said portable device abutting said confronting wall and a wall of said portable device abutting said one of said front-side wall and said rear-side wall as second reference planes.

6. The concentrator and portable device combination according to claim 5, wherein a position of said at least one of said charging terminal insertion opening, said positioning portion and said optical communication section of said device receiving unit relative to said first reference planes matches with a position of said at least one of said charging terminal, said positioning portion and said optical communication element of said portable device.

7. The concentrator according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of device receiving units attached to said concentrator body for receiving therein a plurality of portable devices to perform at least one of data transmission, data reception, and power feeding relative to a plurality of portable devices.

8. The concentrator according to claim 1, further comprising a holder spring on one of said front-side and said rear-side walls for biasing a portable device in a direction toward the other of said side walls.

9. The concentrator according to claim 8, wherein said holder spring comprises a finger-like one of said side walls bounded on three sides by a substantially U-shaped slit through the thickness of the side wall.

10. The concentrator according to claim 1, wherein said corner is at an angle of approximately 90°

.

11. A concentrator comprising:

a concentrator body;

a device receiving unit attached to said concentrator body for receiving therein a portable device for performing at least one of data transmission, data reception, and power feeding relative to a portable device;

said device receiving unit comprising confronting, bottom, front-side and rear-side walls defining a well for receiving therein a portable device, said confronting wall oriented normal to an insertion direction of a portable device for receiving a portable device thereon, said bottom wall for supporting a portable device wherein the confronting wall and bottom wall form a corner;

wherein said device receiving unit additionally comprises a temporary attachment means on one of the front-side or rear-side walls for preventing a portable device located in said well from moving in all directions.

12. The concentrator of claim 11, wherein the temporary attachment means is a holder spring whereby the holding spring biases a portable device in a direction toward the other of said side walls.

13. The concentrator according to claim 12, wherein said holder spring comprises a finger-like one of said side walls bounded on three sides by a substantially U-shaped slit through the thickness of the side wall.

14. The concentrator according to claim 11, wherein said corner is at an angle of approximately 90°

.