Patent Abstract:
An adaptive dock for use with media players of varying form factors is provided by an arrangement in which a device connector is located on a moveable sled that is located in the dock&#39;s base unit. A device-specific dock insert is arranged for removable engagement with the base unit to allow the base to have applicability to different media players by using the appropriately configured insert. The insert includes a device receiving space having an opening that is located to expose the media player&#39;s accessory connector. The insert further includes an actuator that slidably engages with a cam that is located on the sled to impart a lateral motion to the sled as the insert is placed downward into the dock&#39;s base unit so as to align the device connector on the sled with the opening in the insert.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND 
   Personal media players that enable users to store and render a variety of media content such as music, photographs, and video are enjoying widespread popularity as performance and features such as storage capacity and continue to increase while maintaining attractive pricing. In addition to the market for the personal media players themselves, accessories such as earphones, chargers, car kits, and carrying cases, are presenting significant opportunities for manufacturers and retailers to develop additional revenue sources within the large media player market. One example of a popular personal media player accessory is a dock with which a user may connect the player to another device such as a personal computer, television, or other electronic device to communicate and share data, for example. 
   Personal media players are often offered with a variety of different features to enable sale at varying price points. It is not unusual for a manufacturer to offer multiple product types or lines to help tailor a personal media player to a specific target market segment. However, it is not always efficient or possible for retailers to carry a lot of device-specific accessories for each different personal media player. As a result, accessory manufacturers are motivated to develop products that are applicable to a wide variety of personal media players while maintaining both backwards and forwards compatibility, respectively, with older and newer models of players. However, most manufacturers want to avoid user perception that a particular accessory is “universal” which often connotes a compromised product that is not very well tailored to that user&#39;s specific media player. 
   This Background is provided to introduce a brief context for the Summary and Detailed Description that follow. This Background is not intended to be an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter nor be viewed as limiting the claimed subject matter to implementations that solve any or all of the disadvantages or problems presented above. 
   SUMMARY 
   An adaptive dock for use with media players of varying form factors is provided by an arrangement in which a device connector is located on a moveable sled that is located in the dock&#39;s base unit which houses the functional elements such as electronics required to implement communication between the media and an external device such as a personal computer. A device-specific dock insert is arranged for removable engagement with the base unit to allow the base to have applicability to different media players by using the appropriately configured insert. The insert includes a device receiving space having an opening that is located to expose the media player&#39;s accessory connector so that it may be mateably engaged with the device connector when the player is inserted into the dock. The insert further includes an actuator that slidably engages with a cam that is located on the sled to impart a lateral motion to the sled as the insert is placed downward into the dock&#39;s base unit so as to align the device connector on the sled with the opening in the insert. 
   In an illustrative example, the device-specific dock insert includes tabs that are configured to be removable engaged with the base unit in a snap fit configuration. The insert further includes a rib that engages in a mating slot adjacent to the device connector on the sled to lock the sled in place when the insert is placed into the base unit. The interaction between the actuator and the cam can impart relatively large motions to the sled while the interaction between the rib and slot provides relatively fine final positioning of the sled and device connector as the insert is snapped into its installed position in the base unit. 
   This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows an illustrative media player docking environment in which a personal media player is coupled to a personal computer using a dock; 
       FIGS. 2A and 2B  show several illustrative personal media players that vary by size, capabilities, and the location of the docking connector; 
       FIG. 3  shows an illustrative adaptive docking arrangement in which a device-specific dock insert is removably engagable with an adaptive dock; 
       FIGS. 4A ,  4 B, and  4 C are respective front, side and top views of an illustrative laterally moveable sled that is housed in the dock and arranged to interface with the device-specific dock insert shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5A  is an isometric view of the sled shown in  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B and  4 C; 
       FIG. 5B  shows the sled as that is fixedly coupled to a printed circuit board assembly which includes a device connector; 
       FIG. 6A  is an isometric view of the rear and top surfaces of the dock base unit which shows an opening for a cam that interfaces with actuators on the device-specific dock insert and a laterally extending slot through which the device connector is exposable; 
       FIG. 6B  is an isometric view of the dock base unit as assembled with its internal components including the sled, printed circuit board assembly, and device connector; 
       FIGS. 7A ,  7 B, and  7 C are respective top, front, and side views of a first illustrative device-specific dock insert; 
       FIGS. 8A ,  8 B, and  8 C are respective top, front, and side views of a second illustrative device-specific dock insert; 
       FIGS. 9A ,  9 B and  9 C show a sequence of views of the dock insert actuators in operative engagement with the cam on the sled, where such engagement may impart lateral motion to the sled; and 
       FIG. 9D  is a side view of downwardly extending ribs as engaged in rib-receiving slots that are adjacently disposed to the device connector on the printed circuit board assembly. 
   

   Like reference numerals indicate like elements in the drawings. 
   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1  shows an illustrative media player docking environment  100  in which a personal media player  105  is coupled to a personal computer (“PC”)  110  using a dock  116 . Docking the personal media player  105  to the PC  110  typically enables them to operatively communicate, for example, to synchronize data and share media content. The dock  116  also typically provides a charging functionality to charge an onboard battery in the personal media player  105  when it is docked. In some scenarios, the PC  110  is used to acquire and/or store media content such as music, video, software, games, etc., from local or online sources that can then be loaded onto the personal media player  105  using the dock  116 . In other scenarios, the dock  116  is used to enable the personal media player  105  to be used as a data or playback source to render its content to the PC  110  or another device (not shown) such as a television or stereo system. Dock  116  is generally configured to position the docked personal media player  105  so that its display  122  may be readily seen and the controls  125  conveniently accessed. 
   The personal media player  105  may take any of a variety of common forms, for example, MP3 player (Moving Pictures Expert Group, MPEG-1, audio layer 3), portable multimedia player, pocket PC, smart phone, mobile phone, handheld game device, personal digital assistant, or other type of electronic device that can store and/or render media content such as audio, video, or multimedia. And while a PC  110  is shown in the illustrative environment  100  in  FIG. 1 , other devices may be coupled to the personal media player in some implementations of the present adaptive dock including a television, audio and stereo system, game console, multimedia center, set-top box, and the like. 
   Dock  116  is coupled to the PC  110 , in this illustrative example, using a cable  130  that typically contains a multiplicity of conductors for carrying data, power, and control signals, for example. Cable  130  is typically coupled to an input/output (“I/O”) port on the PC  110  such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) or IEEE-1394 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) port (not shown). 
   A pair of mating connectors are utilized to implement the connection between the personal media player  105  and the dock  116  as shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B . One of the connectors in the pair, commonly referred to as an accessory or output connector, is disposed in the personal media player, as indicated by reference numeral  202 . A mating device connector  207  is disposed in the dock  116 . The connectors  202  and  207  are typically configured and respectively oriented so that they are operatively coupled when a user inserts the personal media player  105  into the dock  116  through an opening into a device receiving space  212 . As shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the device connector  207  is located within the device receiving space  212 . 
   As a result of design and/or packaging factors, the accessory connector  202  may not necessarily be positioned about the centerline of the personal media player  105 . As shown in  FIG. 2A , the personal media player  105  is arranged in small form factor where the accessory connector  202  is offset to the left of the centerline. The device connector  207  is correspondingly offset within the device receiving space  212  which is configured in dimension to be relatively close fitting to the personal media player  105  to support it in the desired orientation while docked in dock  116 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 2B , the personal media player  105  is configured as a large form factor as compared with that shown in  FIG. 2A . In this illustrative example, the large form factor personal media player  105  uses an accessory connector  202  that is approximately centered about its centerline. The device connector  207  is, accordingly, centered within the device receiving space  212  which is configured to be larger than that shown in  FIG. 2A  to accommodate the large form factor personal media player  105 . It is emphasized that the connector configurations shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B  are merely illustrative, and the particular form factors of the personal media player  105  and device receiving space  212  within dock  116 , as well as the amount of connector offset may vary according to the requirements of a specific implementation. 
   In order to accommodate a variety of form factors and accessory device configurations, dock  116  is arranged to be adaptive by a base unit  303 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , which interfaces with one of several device-specific dock inserts  306 . The device-specific dock insert  306  is removably couplable to the base unit  303  and includes a device receiving space  212  that is configured to fit a particular device form factor. The device receiving space  212  is further arranged to include an opening  310  through which the device connector  207  may pass. Opening  310  is located within the device receiving space  212  to accommodate the position of the accessory connector  202  (i.e., whether centered or offset from the centerline). In this illustrative example, the device-specific dock insert  306  is removably coupled to the base unit  303  using tabs  316  which mateably engage with corresponding recesses in the base unit (not shown) using a snap fit engagement. 
   The device-specific dock insert  306  further includes actuators  320  that are configured to project substantially downward from the bottom surface of the insert. Actuators  320  are configured to slidably interact with a cam that is provided by a laterally moveable sled, as described below, in order to impart lateral motion to the device connector so as to align it with the opening  310 . Accordingly, the lateral location of the actuators  320  on the device-specific dock insert  306  will typically vary according to the lateral location of the opening  310  within the device receiving space  212 . 
     FIGS. 4A ,  4 B, and  4 C are respective front, side and top views of an illustrative laterally moveable sled  404  that is housed in the dock base unit  303  and arranged to interface with actuators  320  of the device-specific dock insert  306  shown in  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 5A  is an isometric view of the sled  404 . 
   The sled  404  comprises a horizontally planar base  412  from which a planar cam support  417  projects substantially orthogonally therefrom. As shown, base  412  includes slots  419  that capture posts  422  that are incorporated into the base unit  303 . The location and orientation of the slots  419  allow lateral motion of the sled  404  with respect to the base unit  303  through slideable motion over the posts  422  (as indicated by the arrows in  FIGS. 4A and 4C ), but back and forth motion of the sled  404  is constrained. In alternative implementations other motion-constraining features may be utilized such as tracks or guides. 
   Projecting outward from the cam support  417  is a substantially triangular shaped cam  424  that is oriented, when the sled  404  is installed in the base unit  303 , to slidably engage with one or both of the actuators  320  on the device-specific dock insert  306  when the insert  306  is snapped into the base unit  303 . 
     FIG. 5B  shows the sled  404  as fixedly coupled to a printed circuit board assembly (“PCBA”)  506  which is operatively coupled to the device connector  207 . PCBA  506  is configured with circuitry (not shown) to implement various electronic features and functionalities provided by the dock  116  ( FIG. 1 ). An I/O facility of the PCBA  506  (not shown) provides functional connectivity to the PC  110  via cable  130 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . It is emphasized that the PCBA  506  is merely illustrative, and variations in PCBA layout, size, and orientation may vary from that shown in  FIG. 5B  as may be required by a specific requirement of an application of the present adaptive docking. 
     FIG. 5B  also shows a set of slots  513  that are located on either side of the device connector  207  in a connector support member  525  which includes beveled surfaces that function to guide mating ribs on the device-specific dock insert  306  into the slots  513 . The mating ribs project downwards from the bottom surface of the device-specific dock insert  306 . The ribs are shown in  FIGS. 7A-7C  and  FIGS. 8A-8C  below and described in the accompanying text. 
     FIG. 6A  is an isometric view of the rear and top surfaces of the dock base unit which shows a laterally extending opening  602  for the cam  424  that interfaces with actuators on the device-specific dock insert and a laterally extending slot  606  through which the device connector  207  is exposable.  FIG. 6B  is an isometric view of the dock base unit  303  as assembled with its internal components including the sled  404 , PCBA  506 , and device connector  207 . As shown, the cam  424  is accessible to the actuators  320  ( FIG. 3 ) on the device-specific dock insert  306  through the opening  602  when as the adapter is seated onto the base unit  303 . 
     FIGS. 7A ,  7 B, and  7 C are respective top, front, and side views of a first illustrative device-specific dock insert  706 . In a similar manner to the device-specific dock insert  306  shown in  FIG. 3 , insert  706  includes device receiving space  712  through which an opening  710  is positioned in accordance with the location of the accessory connector  202  ( FIG. 2A ) in the personal media player  105 . In this illustrative example, the device receiving space  712  and opening  710  are configured to interface with the small form factor personal media player shown in  FIG. 2A  in which the accessory connector  202  is offset from the centerline of the player. Actuators  720  are thus offset with respect to the centerline of the insert to be able to move the sled  404  through slideable engagement with the cam  424  ( FIGS. 4A-4C ) into a position which facilitates mateable coupling between the accessory connector  202  in the personal media device  105  ( FIG. 1 ) and the device connector  207 . Tabs  716  are provided which mateably engage with corresponding recesses in the base unit  303  ( FIG. 3 ) using a snap fit engagement. 
   A pair of ribs  723  are positioned on either side of opening  710  and project downward from the bottom of the device receiving space  712 . Ribs  723  are utilized to provide the fine positioning of the sled  404  with respect to the device-specific dock insert  706  via removal engagement with the corresponding slots  513  adjacent to the connector  207  as shown in  FIG. 5B  as the insert  706  is snap fit into final position in the base unit  303 . Once the ribs  723  are so engaged, the sled  404  is locked in a fixed position. 
     FIGS. 8A ,  8 B, and  8 C are respective top, front, and side views of a second illustrative device-specific dock insert  806  in which the device receiving space  812  and opening  810  are configured to interface with the large form factor personal media player shown in  FIG. 2B  in which the accessory connector  202  is substantially centered with the centerline of the player. Actuators  820  are accordingly spaced symmetrically about the centerline of the device-specific dock insert  806 . Tabs  816  and ribs  823  are arranged and perform similar functions as those elements shown in  FIGS. 7B and 7C . 
     FIGS. 9A ,  9 B and  9 C show a sequence of views of the dock insert actuators (such as actuators  820  shown in  FIGS. 8B and 8C ) in operative engagement with the cam  424  on the sled  404  which may impart lateral motion to the sled  404 . Note that some elements including the dock insert opening, PCBA, device connector, and base unit are not shown for clarity.  FIG. 9A  shows the actuators  820  prior to be slidably engaged with the cam  424 . When a user begins to place the device-specific dock insert  806  into the base unit, as shown in  FIG. 9B , the downward motion of the insert forces one of the actuators  820  to bear against the cam  424  and push the sled  404  laterally as the actuator  820  follows the cam&#39;s profile. As shown in  FIG. 9C , the lateral motion continues until the ribs  823  touch down upon the supporting portion of the connector  207  which guides the ribs into the slots  513  as shown in  FIG. 5B  and  FIG. 9C . The interaction between the actuator  820  and cam  424  can thus impart relatively large motions to the sled  404  while the interaction between the ribs  823  and slots  513  provide relatively fine final positioning as the device-specific dock insert  806  is snapped into its installed position in the base unit. 
   Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6