Claims
- 1. A PCMCIA circuit card, comprising:
- a PCMCIA card housing having a cable passage aperture;
- a support for electronic components disposed in said housing; and
- a retractable cable having a first end electrically connected to said electronic components and a second end which can be selectively withdrawn from said housing via the cable passage aperture, the second end including a connector for attaching the cable to another connector.
- 2. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 1, further comprising means for storing at least a portion of the cable which is not withdrawn from said housing.
- 3. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 2, wherein said means for storing comprises a pin disposed within said housing about which at least a portion of said cable can be wound.
- 4. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 2, wherein said means for storing comprises a storage reel disposed within said housing.
- 5. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 4, further comprising:
- means for rotatably mounting said storage reel within said housing to permit rotating of said storage reel in a first direction when a portion of said cable is withdrawn from said housing and rotating of said storage reel in an opposite direction when a portion of said cable is retracted back into said housing.
- 6. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 5, further comprising locking means for selectively locking and unlocking rotation of said storage reel.
- 7. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 1, wherein said electrical components include LAN circuitry.
- 8. The PCMCIA circuit of claim 7, wherein the connector connected to said second end of said cable is connectible to an Ethernet interface.
- 9. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 7, wherein the connector connected to said second end of said cable is connectible to a Token Ring interface.
- 10. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 1, wherein said electrical components include fax/modem circuitry, and the connector connected to said second end of said cable is a telephone jack.
- 11. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 1, further comprising a storage compartment within the housing and wherein the cable is wound within the storage compartment as the cable is retracted into the housing.
- 12. A PCMCIA circuit card, comprising:
- a PCMCIA card housing having a cable passage aperture;
- a printed circuit board disposed in said housing; and
- means for storing a retractable cable within the housing, said cable passing through said cable passage aperture and including a first end disposed within the housing and coupled to the printed circuit board and another end disposed outside the housing and having a connector for coupling to another connector.
- 13. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 12, wherein said means for storing is a storage compartment.
- 14. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 12, wherein said means for storing is a storage reel disposed within said housing, the storage reel storing at least a portion of the cable which is not withdrawn from said housing.
- 15. The PCMCIA circuit card of claim 14, further comprising:
- means for rotatably mounting said storage reel within said housing to permit rotating of said storage reel in a first direction when a portion of said cable is withdrawn from said housing and rotating of said storage reel in an opposite direction when a portion of said cable is retracted back into said housing.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of Application Ser. No. 08/903,129, filed Jul. 30, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,628; which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/719,329, filed Sep. 25, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,143; which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/231,203, filed Mar. 21, 1994, abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (26)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
4 071 089 |
Mar 1992 |
JPX |
Continuations (3)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
903129 |
Jul 1997 |
|
Parent |
719329 |
Sep 1996 |
|
Parent |
231203 |
Mar 1994 |
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