Patent Application
20060139874
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a docking station lock and its link assembly, more particularly to a docking station lock and its link assembly capable of locking a notebook computer to the docking station as well as providing a multi-locking effects for locking the notebook computer, the peripherals and the docking station as to prevent these equipments from being taken away or stolen.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the size of a notebook computer is limited, notebook computers cannot accommodate too many storage devices into the limited space provided, even for the so-called “all-in-one” model. In particular, the space for installing hard disk drives is very small. After a user has used a computer for a while, the quantity of data will become larger, it is necessary to install an additional hard disk drive or back up the data by a CD burner. Of course, data also can be transmitted via a local area network for the data processing, but it is not as convenient to process data directly with the computer.
Then, a user may use a multifunctional docking station designed for installing and removing the peripherals of a notebook computer. There are three main types of multifunctional docking stations: a basic model with lots of peripheral connection ports; an expanded model having a multibay installed on both sides of the docking station to facilitate the installation of additional peripherals besides the foregoing connection ports, so that the functions of a notebook computer can be expanded up a level equivalent to those of a desktop computer; and an external docking station model using a universal serial bus (USB) interface for connecting a notebook computer.
Further, the foregoing multibay can provide a more flexible way of storing data, and the peripherals connected to the multibay can expand the functions of the notebook computer, such as installing another detachable hard disk drive, CD burner, DVD-ROM, floppy disk drive, etc. or even installing additional batteries to improve the battery time or using a notebook computer as a commercial desktop computer.
A so-called “expandable mobile architecture” is a concept derived from the abovementioned principles emphasizing on the powerful expandability, so that users can expand the functions of their notebook computers as needed. The multibay which allows a hot plug connection for various different peripherals and integrates different platforms to meet different requirements makes the installation and removal of external devices to/from the notebook computer easy, and thus it is an excellent product to users.
The traditional multibay only has a lock hole on its housing for installing a lock as to secure the multibay at a fixed position and prevent other people to take away the multibay. However, the lock hole jointly working with the lock can only prevent the multibay from being taken away, and the design comes with no special locking mechanism to lock a notebook computer and other peripherals installed onto the multibay simultaneously. As a result, the notebook computer and other peripherals may be taken away or stolen very easily, which will cause a tremendous damage to the user. Therefore, finding a way for overcoming the foregoing shortcomings is definitely an important subject for manufacturers.
In view of the detailed description above, it is not difficult to observe that the structure of the lock hole installed on the multibay and the lock can only prevent the multibay from being taken away or stolen, but it cannot lock the installed notebook and other peripherals at the same time. As a result, the notebook computer and other peripherals can be taken away by others very easily, which will cause a tremendous damage to the users. Therefore, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience of the related field to conduct extensive research and development to overcome the foregoing shortcomings and find a solution for the improvement, and finally invented a docking station lock and its link assembly in accordance with the present invention in hope of contributing such innovative idea to the public domain.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a docking station lock and its link assembly, which comprises a lock positioning groove at the bottom of the body of a docking station, a cable positioning groove, and a release button disposed adjacent to the lock positioning groove, such that a lock and a cable disposed on a side of the lock are coupled respectively and precisely with a lock and a cable disposed on a side of the lock, and one end of the cable is secured onto a wall or a fixed object such as a wall or a leg of a desk as to lock the docking station and prevent it from being taken away by others. A lock core of the lock is extended into the body of the docking station and works jointly with a link assembly to control a press-down movement of the release button and also simultaneously control two hooks installed on a side of a holder disposed on the body for locking and releasing the notebook computer as to prevent the notebook computer from being taken away.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a docking station lock and its link assembly, wherein the docking station lock and its link assembly can also work jointly with other locking mechanism (such as a multibay lock mechanism), so that the lock also will drive another locking mechanism to lock a peripheral (such as an optical disk drive) which has installed said other lock, and thus provides a multi-locking effect.
To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention.
Please refer to
In the invention, the lock positioning groove 11 is provided for receiving a lock 15, and a lock core 151 of the lock 15 is extended into the body 10 to restrict the release button 13 from being pressed down, and a cable 152 is connected to a side of the lock 15 and the cable 152 can be fixed into the cable positioning groove 12 as to effectively manage the cable 152, and the other end of the cable 152 is fixed onto a fixed object (not shown in the figure) such as a wall or a leg of a desk, so that the notebook computer installed on the docking station 1 will not be taken away or stolen easily by others.
With reference to
On the other hand, if the link assembly 20 is not locked by the lock 15, then the release button 13 can be pressed down to drive the link assembly 20 to release the two hooks 142 from the notebook installed onto the holder 14 and allow users to remove the notebook computer from the holder 14. In the meantime, the present invention also can prevent any damage caused by improper shaking of the devices by users during the connection and disconnection of the devices.
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In view of the description above, the lock 15 and its link assembly 20 of the present invention is capable of fixing the cable 152 of the lock 15 onto the docking station 1 as well as working jointly with another locking mechanism 30 installed on a multibay to lock all peripherals to the docking station 1 and prevent the docking station 1, the notebook computer and the peripherals from being taken away altogether.
Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
