The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 01, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 14, 1999
Applicant:
Inventors:
Michael Thad Collins, Round Rock, TX (US);
Damon William Broder, Austin, TX (US);
Assignee:
Dell USA, L.P., Round Rock, TX (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01H 7/300 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01H 7/300 ;
Abstract
A housing for components of a computer system includes a portion having a material which is integral with an electrically conductive signal line. The material and the electrically conductive signal line are formed so as to physically break in response to application of a physical force on the material. Circuitry is coupled to the signal line for detecting a physical break in the material by detecting an open circuit caused by physically breaking the electrically conductive signal line. In response to the open circuit, an operation of the computer system is disabled.