Docking system for portable computing device in an enclosure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10101770-B2
Application number	US-201715659556-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 25, 2017
Priority date	Jul 29, 2016
Publication date	Oct 16, 2018
Grant date	Oct 16, 2018

Abstract

Briefly, a docking system may comprise a case mount which may, in particular embodiments, attached to a portable computing device. The case mount may comprise a plurality of contact groups positioned at a plurality of electrically divided quadrants, which may permit the portable computing device to communicate with one or more wired networks.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a case mount to attach to a portable computing device, the case mount comprising a plurality of contact groups, one of the plurality of contact groups being positioned at a corresponding one of a plurality of electrically divided quadrants of an approximately circular arc of the case mount, one or more connections of the contact groups enabling the portable computing device to communicate with one or more wired networks; and
a base mount to be fixedly secured to the case mount, the base mount comprising one or more actuators capable of rotating a cam ring to permit engagement of a latch with a notch, wherein the base mount is capable of removing power from discrete signal interfaces prior to rotation of the cam ring to permit disengagement of the latch with the notch.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a first contact group of the plurality of contact groups provides signal interfaces identical to a second contact group of the plurality of contact groups, and wherein the plurality of electrically divided quadrants are positioned at periodic angular intervals.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the periodic angular intervals comprise angular intervals of about 90.0°.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the second contact group of the plurality of contact groups is positioned at an approximately 90.0° increment from the first contact group of the plurality of contact groups, and wherein a third contact group of the plurality of contact groups is positioned at an approximately 180.0° increment from the first contact group, and wherein a fourth contact group of the contact groups is positioned at an approximately 270.0° increment from the first contact group.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of contact groups enabling the portable computing device to communicate with the wired network comprises a communications bus, and wherein one or more conductors of the communications bus maintains a voltage standing wave ratio of less than about 2.10:1.0 during operation of the communications bus.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the communications bus provides communications utilizing a Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol operating at a speed of at least 400.0 Mb per second.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base mount is adapted to be fixedly secured to a relatively fixed object.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the case mount is additionally to adapt one or more discrete signals from the base mount to signals capable of being interpreted by the portable computing device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the base mount accepts an Ethernet connection, the Ethernet connection providing electrical power to be utilized by the portable computing device.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more actuators comprise at least one solenoid.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the one or more actuators rotate the cam ring in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base mount further comprises the cam ring and the latch, and wherein the case mount further comprises the notch.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the base mount further comprises a plurality of the latches, and wherein the case mount further comprises a plurality of the notches.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base mount removes electrical power from the case mount in response to receipt of an instruction from the portable computing device.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base mount removes electrical power from the case mount in response to a signal generated by an RFID card reader.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base mount removes electrical power from the case mount in response to a manual lock/unlock feature.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cam ring permits engagement or disengagement of the latch with the notch responsive to at least one of (1) an instruction generated by the portable computing device, (2) a signal generated by an RFID card reader, and (3) a manual lock/unlock feature.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base mount further comprises one or more magnets to provide attraction to one or more metallic elements of the case mount.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the one or more magnets comprise a plurality of magnets that are positioned around the cam ring.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the base mount is fixedly secured to the case mount via the attraction.

21. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the discrete signal interfaces comprise a plurality of spring-loaded contacting pins that are positioned on the base mount to maintain electrical contact with individual contacts of one of the plurality of contact groups when the base mount is fixedly secured to the case mount.

22. The docking arrangement of claim 18 , wherein the actuators rotate the cam ring to permit release of the base mount from the case mount responsive to an instruction generated by the portable computing device, a signal generated by a RFID card reader, or by way of a manual lock/unlock feature, or any combination thereof.

23. A docking arrangement, comprising:
a case mount capable of attaching to a portable computing device, the case mount comprising a plurality of contact groups disposed at a plurality of angular intervals at a surface of the case mount; and
a base mount capable of latching to the case mount, the base mount comprising (1) one or more actuators capable of rotating a cam ring to permit engagement of a latch with a notch and (2) at least one set of contacts to make physical contact with one or more of the plurality of contact groups of the case mount, the base mount capable of removing power from the at least one set of contacts prior to rotation of the cam ring to permit disengagement of the latch with the notch.

24. The docking arrangement of claim 23 , wherein the plurality of contact groups comprises four contact groups organized into quadrants.

25. The docking arrangement of claim 23 , wherein the base mount is additionally capable of attaching to a relatively fixed object.

26. The docking arrangement of claim 23 , wherein the plurality of contact groups couple to a signal conditioning module to adapt signals from the base mount for use by the portable computing device.

27. The docking arrangement of claim 26 , wherein the case mount comprises a communications protocol converter.

28. The docking arrangement of claim 27 , wherein a length of one or more conductors utilized for a communications bus interface exhibits a voltage standing wave ratio of less than 2.0:1.0.

29. The docking arrangement of claim 23 , wherein the base mount is capable of removing electrical power from the case mount responsive to receipt of an instruction from the portable computing device.

30. The docking arrangement of claim 23 , wherein the base mount further comprises the cam ring and the latch, and wherein the case mount further comprises the notch.

31. The docking arrangement of claim 30 , wherein the base mount further comprises a plurality of the latches, and wherein the case mount further comprises a plurality of the notches.

32. The docking arrangement of claim 23 , wherein the base mount further comprises one or more magnets to prov

Assignees

• Mobile Tech Inc

Inventors

• Schatz Kristopher W
• Miles Michael D

Classifications

• G06F1/1654

  the display being detachable, e.g. for remote use · CPC title

• G06F1/1632 Primary

  External expansion units, e.g. docking stations · CPC title

• G06F1/1683

  for the transmission of signal or power between the different housings, e.g. details of wired or wireless communication, passage of cabling · CPC title