Patent ID: 7637755

Claim:
A data protecting apparatus comprising: an opening/closing unit that assumes a closed state or an opened state when rotated around a predetermined axis with respect to a main unit, the opening/closing unit being secured to the main unit while remaining in the closed state and being released from the main unit while remaining in the opened state; a movable locking member that is moved with respect to the main unit or the opening/closing unit, and locks the opening/closing unit to the main unit, thereby setting the opening/closing unit in the closed state, or releases the opening/closing unit from the main unit, thereby setting the opening/closing unit in the opened state; main-unit terminals that are provided in the main unit, for electrically connecting the main unit to the opening/closing unit; opening/closing-unit terminals that are provided in the opening/closing unit, to be electrically connected to the main-unit terminals while the opening/closing unit remains in the closed state, and to be electrically disconnected from the main-unit terminals while the opening/closing unit remains in the opened state; an external-apparatus socket that is provided in the opening/closing unit, for supplying power and transmitting data to an external apparatus while the external apparatus remains connected to the external-apparatus socket; an interlock member that operates when the movable locking member is moved; and data-communications switches that electrically disconnect data-communications lines before electrically disconnecting power-supply lines connecting the external-apparatus socket to the main unit, by disconnecting the opening/closing-unit terminals from the main-unit terminals when the opening/closing unit is detected to be shifting from the closed state to the opened state as the interlock member operates in interlock with the movable locking member.