Abstract:
A docking station for a portable electronic device comprises a housing forming a first cradle receiving slot, the housing including a first housing connector within the first cradle receiving slot in combination with a first cradle shell inerrable into the first cradle receiving slot, the first cradle shell being sized and shaped to receive a first portable electronic device therein, the first cradle shell including a first shell inner connector positioned on a device receiving side of the cradle shell so that, when a first portable electronic device is received in the first cradle shell, the first shell inner connector is aligned with a connector of the first portable electronic device and a first shell outer shell connector on a housing facing surface of the first cradle shell, the first shell outer connector being positioned so that, when the first cradle shell is inserted into the first cradle receiving slot, the first shell outer connector aligns with the first housing connector.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
   Over time, mobile computing devices have become more and more heavily relied on by businesses and the capabilities of these devices are constantly being improved. Upgrading to new devices may require investment not only in the devices themselves but also in the equipment necessary to support these devices. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to a docking station for a portable electronic device comprising a housing forming a first cradle receiving slot, the housing including a first housing connector within the first cradle receiving slot in combination with a first cradle shell inerrable into the first cradle receiving slot, the first cradle shell being sized and shaped to receive a first portable electronic device therein, the first cradle shell including a first shell inner connector positioned on a device receiving side of the cradle shell so that, when a first portable electronic device is received in the first cradle shell, the first shell inner connector is aligned with a connector of the first portable electronic device and a first shell outer shell connector on a housing facing surface of the first cradle shell, the first shell outer connector being positioned so that, when the first cradle shell is inserted into the first cradle receiving slot, the first shell outer connector aligns with the first housing connector. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a docking station according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the docking station of  FIG. 1  with a first device cradle removed therefrom; 
       FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of the first device cradle removed from the docking station of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  shows a bottom view of the first device cradle of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  shows a back view of the docking station of  FIG. 1 ; and 
       FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of the top of the first device cradle of  FIG. 3 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The present invention may be further understood with reference to the following description and the appended drawings, wherein like elements are referred to with the same reference numerals. The present invention will be described in regard to docking stations for personal digital assistants (“PDA&#39;s”). However, those skilled in the art will understand that the docking cradle according to the present invention is equally suited for any mobile electronic device relying on a rechargeable battery such as, for example, a barcode scanner, a cellular telephone, blackberry, digital music player, etc. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 6 , a docking station  10  according to the invention includes a housing with a plurality of docking cradles  12 , each receiving a mobile device  14  therein for battery charging and/or for wired connection to a computer or network of computers. As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the docking station  10  can be configured with docking cradles  12  adapted as described in detail below to receive different mobile devices  14 . That is, a first one of the docking cradles  12  may be configured to receive a first mobile device  14  while a rest of the docking cradles  12  are configured to receive one or more mobile devices  14  which may be the same as or different from the first mobile device  14 . In addition, the docking station  10  includes a modular docking cradle system that allows the docking cradles  12  to be reconfigured to receive a new type of mobile device  14  while a base  16  of the docking station  10  remains unchanged. 
   Specifically, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 6 , the base  16  of the docking station  10  includes a plurality of cradle receiving slots  18 , each of a standard size and shape. Each cradle receiving slot  18  includes a housing connector  20  (for example, a 20 pin connector) within a connector opening  22  formed in a lower surface  24  of the cradle receiving slot  18 . A pair of alignment pin receiving holes  26  are formed in a circuit board  28  on which the connector  20  is mounted and a pair of screw receiving holes  30  are formed on either side of the connector opening  22 . 
   The cradle receiving slots  18  are configured to receive cradle shells  32  each of which has an inner side  34  configured to match the shape of the cradle receiving slots  18  while an outer side  36  of each cradle shell  32  is configured to receive a corresponding mobile device  14  and hold the mobile device  14  in a desired orientation therein. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the cradle shells  32  each have a connector (e.g., a shell inner connector, not shown in the figures) mounted on a bottom portion  40  (e.g., a device-receiving side) of the outer side  36 . Each connector is positioned and aligned on the bottom portion  40  so that, when a mobile device  14  is received within the cradle shell  32 , a connector on a bottom surface of the mobile device  14  is aligned with the connector on the bottom portion  40 . The connector on the bottom portion  40  is tailored to receive, or be received by, the connector of the corresponding mobile device  14  and need not match the connector  20 . Rather, contacts of the connector on the bottom portion  40  are electrically connected to a shell connector  42  (e.g., a shell outer connector on a housing-facing surface) which, when the cradle shell  32  is received within the cradle receiving slot  18 , is coupled to the connector  20  in a predetermined alignment. That is, where the connector  20  is a 20 pin connector, the shell connector  42  will have 20 contacts aligned with the pins of the connector  20  when the shell  32  is received within a cradle receiving slot  18 . As would be understood by those skilled in the art, this allows the cradle shells  32  to be configured to receive mobile devices  14  having connectors with any number of contacts, equal to or less than the number of contacts in the connector  20 . In addition, as would be recognized by those skilled in the art, the connector on the bottom portion  40  may be disposed in any orientation with respect to the shell connector  42  and the connector  20 . For example, a cradle shell  32  may be made with the connector on the bottom portion  40  substantially perpendicular to the connector  20 , allowing a mobile device to be received therein substantially perpendicular to a length of the docking station  10 . Further, the docking station  10  may include a mounting mechanism (e.g., hook, adhesive pad, screw-receiving cut-outs, etc.) for mounting on a surface (e.g., a wall, a panel of a vehicle, etc.). 
   According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the shell connector  42  includes a plurality of contacts formed on an exposed surface of a circuit board  44  mounted on the outer side  36  of the cradle shell  32 . A gasket  46  may be mounted between the circuit board  44  and the outer side of the cradle shell  36  with the circuit board  44  mounted to the cradle shell  32  by, for example, screws  48  or other fasteners. Two aligning pins  50  extend from the bottom surface of the outer side  36  of the cradle shell  32 , passing through two aligning holes formed in the circuit board  44 . When the cradle shell  32  is mounted in a cradle receiving slot  18 , the aligning pins  50  enter the alignment pin receiving holes  26  of the cradle slot  18  to ensure that the contacts of the connector  42  are precisely aligned with the contacts of the connector  20 . The cradle shell  32  may then be secured in the proper position by insertion of screws (or other fasteners) through securing holes  51  formed in the bottom surfaces of the cradle shells  32  into the screw receiving holes  30  formed in the bottom surface of the cradle receiving slots  18 . 
   In another exemplary embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the docking station  10  further includes one or more ports (e.g., Ethernet, USB, serial, parallel, etc.) for receiving a cable for communication between the mobile device  14  and a computing device (e.g., a server, a PC, a laptop, etc.). Thus, the first mobile device  14 , when coupled to the docking station  10 , may communicate with the computing device and the other mobile devices  14  coupled to the docking station  10 . For example, after collecting data (e.g., barcode data), the mobile device  14  may be coupled to the docking station  10  for transmitting the data to the computing device. Also, the mobile device  14  may received further data (e.g., updated data, instructions, server messages, etc.) when coupled to the docking station  10 . 
   According to the present invention, the cradle shell  32  may be configured to receive the mobile device  14  even with one or more attachments thereon. For example, in one embodiment, the barcode scanner may have a trigger-handle attachment coupled thereto. In this manner, it would be inconvenient if a user had to decouple the trigger-handle attachment from the scanner. Thus, the cradle shell  32  may further include a cut-away portion which allows the mobile device  14  to engage the connector  20  and remain coupled to the attachment. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the trigger-handle attachment would fit within the cut-away portion. 
   In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the docking station  10  may include one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs) disposed thereon. For example, the docking station  10  may include a single LED which has a first state (e.g. On) indicating the docking station  10  is receiving power and/or is connected to the computing device. In a second state (e.g., Off, blinking, etc.), the single LED indicates that the docking station  10  is not powered and/or is disconnected from the computing device. 
   The docking station  10  may include a predetermined number of LEDs where the predetermined equals a number of docking cradles  12 . For example, in the embodiment of the docking station  10  shown in  FIG. 1 , four LEDs  15  would be disposed thereon, each LED  15  adjacent to a corresponding docking cradle  12  and/or cradle receiving slot  18 . In this manner, each LED  15  may have a series of states which indicate a condition of the docking station  10 , the docking cradle  12  and/or the mobile device  14  in the docking cradle  12 . For example, when an LED  15  is in a first state (e.g., Off), the mobile device  14  may not be correctly received the docking cradle  12  and/or the docking station  10  may not be powered. In a second state (e.g., solid red), the mobile device  14  may be received by the docking cradle  12 , but communication with the docking station  10  is unable to be initiated. In the second state, however, the mobile device  14  may be able to charge a battery thereof. In a third state (e.g., flashing green), the mobile device  14  is received by the docking cradle  12  and is actively communicating with the computing device and/or other mobile devices  14 . Also, in the third state, the mobile device  14  may be charging the battery thereof. In a fourth state (e.g., solid green), the mobile device  14  is received by the docking cradle  12  and has completed a communication session with the computing device. The battery of the mobile device  14  may be charged in the fourth state. As understood by those of skill in the art, each of the LEDs  15  may include a fifth state which indicates that the battery of the mobile device  14  is fully charged. However, the mobile device  14  may include such an indication (e.g., display on LCD, alarm, etc.). 
   In the above-described embodiment, each LED  15  adjacent to a corresponding docking cradle  12  may operated independently of the other LEDs  15 . For example, as described above, each LED  15  may indicate the connection, power delivery and/or data transfer between the corresponding mobile device and the computing device. However, if all of the LEDs  15  enter a predetermined state (e.g., blinking red) at a single time, the docking station  10  may have malfunction and/or be disconnected from the computing device. This predetermined state may be indicated upon, for example, powering the docking station  10 . 
   Those skilled in the art will understand that this arrangement vastly increases the flexibility of the docking station  10  both with respect to the simultaneous accommodation of various types of mobile devices  14  and with respect to altering the docking station  10  over time as mobile devices  14  are replaced with new devices. That is, when mobile devices  14  are replaced with, for example, an updated model, it is not necessary to replace the entire charging apparatus as is commonly the case. Rather, only the cradle shells  32  need to be replaced while the rest of the docking station  14  continues in use. Similarly, due to the modularity of the cradle shells  32  and the components thereof, if one cradle shell  32  fails (e.g., cracks, connector malfunction, etc.), only that cradle shell  32  need be replaced while the others remain intact and functional. 
   Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the particular connector  20  may be any connector with any number of contacts which will preferably be selected to accommodate a wide range of mobile devices  14  without unduly increasing the cost of the docking station  10 . Those skilled in the art will understand that, for an application where flexibility is more important, for example, to accommodate mobile devices  14  with connectors having a greater number of contacts, the number of contacts on the connector  20  may be increased indefinitely. 
   It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the structure and the methodology of the present invention, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, those skilled in the art will understand that the connector  20  in the cradle receiving slot  18  and the shell connector  42  may be mounted at any location on the surface of the cradle receiving slot  18  and the outer side  36  of the cradle shell  32  so long as they are aligned with one another. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.