Grid Systems Corporation

Tandy Corporation

Dennis R Mitchell

Karl S Nakamura

Graham P Lloyd

David C Paulsen

Steve D Friend

William L Calvert

James R Molenda

Larry D Gravelle

A portable computer having a standby power mode of operation has a bay for receiving a portable removable disk drive. The drive has a pair of slots engageable with parallel guide rails in the receiver, and a notch engageable with a retractable latch normally biased in the direction of the notch. A switch adjacent one of the rails generates a standby signal for the computer whenever the drive is inserted into the bay or moved in the ejection direction after installation. An ejector mechanism retracts the latch and an auxiliary locking pivot to release the drive for removal. The ejector also provides an ejection force which moves the drive a sufficient distance externally of the bay to permit the drive to be grasped by the user for complete removal. A grounding contact engageable with a similar contact on the drive provides a static discharge path for the drive prior to electrical interconnection with the computer.

Disk drive ejector mechanism with latch and ejector and standby switch

This invention relates to an expansion device to permit the conductor to be extended beyond its normal operational length without breaking the electrical connection between the objects. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a spring maintains the conductor at a predetermined length. The spring permits the conductor to be moved away from one of the objects for a predetermined distance without breaking the electrical connection between the objects. Preferably, the spring itself is conductive and connects two portions of the conductor which are relatively non-expandable. Alternatively, the spring in its relaxed state may merely maintain some slack in the conductor, the slack being taken up when the spring is compressed. In either embodiment, the spring tensioning mechanism may be contained entirely within one of the objects.

Pen cord tensioning device

A portable computer is constructed to utilize bottom add-on expansion modules, battery tray compartment plug-in modules and mass storage plug-in drawer modules. The modules permit the operating capabilities of the portable computer to be readily altered as desired or as needed at a given location or for a particular job function and do not require redesign or alteration of the internal components of the portable computer as modules are added or changed. Each module construction includes direct plug-in connectors which permit the add-on module to be directly connected to the computer bus without any cabling between the computer and the added module. The construction of the add-on modules permits the computer to be operated as a stand alone computer without any add-on modules and permits the computer to be operated as a portable computer powered by a battery. The construction also permits a wide variety of function cards, mass storage devices, communication devices, interface display devices, interface to instrumentation interfaces, interfaces to small servers (and any other part that can pick up the computer bus) to be readily associated with the portable computer.

Portable computer with removable and replaceable add-on modules

A connector component for computer units and peripheral units is secured to the back of each unit and enables the units to be stacked together in direct electrical connection, without the need for cables between them. Each connector component includes a pair of swivel mounts which rotate through 90 degrees and support a multi-contact pin connector, so that each connector can be oriented either vertically or horizontally, toward the rear of the unit. The pin connectors are internally connected to the operable portions of each unit by an internal cable bus. For direct interconnection between units, the adjacent swivel mounts are rotated to the vertical position and mated. At the top and bottom of a vertical stack of units, the extreme upper and lower swivel mounts may be rotated to the horizontal, rearward-facing position for connection to a cable leading to other computer or peripheral units remote from the stack.

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Dennis R Mitchell