Patent ID: 7747787

Claim:
A Kitchen Display System (KDS), which comprises: a workstation comprising a first Personal Computer (PC)-based controller running an operating system, the first PC-based controller storing and displaying at least one of video, multimedia, and a firmware build card; a fan-less workstation comprising at least one of a second PC-based controller running an operating system and a non-PC-based controller having lower cost than the first PC-based controller; a hybrid Ethernet network coupling each of the controllers and a Point-of-Sale (POS) networked computing system through an Ethernet Hub; the hybrid Ethernet network communicating multimedia and video data for display; one of the PC-based controllers performing as a server; and at least one of a bump bar, keyboard, touchscreen, and keypad coupled to at least one of the controllers, at least one of the controllers comprising a rugged computing module comprising: a circuit board comprising an outer perimeter and traces associated therewith; an integrated circuit mounted on the circuit board; at least one interface connector, each of the at least one interface connector being mounted at an edge of the circuit board, the at least one interface connector being electrically coupled to the integrated circuit exclusively through the traces, thereby eliminating cable connections between points within the outer perimeter of the circuit board and points external to the circuit board; a housing enclosing the computing module such that there is no air flow to the inside of the computing module and convection is not relied on to cool the rugged computing module, the housing not comprising a display disposed thereon, thereby making the housing rugged; and a thermal transfer device thermally coupled to the integrated circuit, the thermal transfer device transfer heat from the integrated circuit to the housing, the thermal transfer device comprising a heat pipe.