Patent ID: 7417662

Claim:
A docking system for docking a sensor relative to an image forming apparatus module, comprising: inboard and outboard docking blocks fixedly mountable to the image forming apparatus module near inboard and outboard sides thereof; a second module positionable adjacent to the image forming apparatus module and movable relative to the image forming apparatus module between a docked position and an undocked position; a loading module fixedly mounted within the adjacent second module; a docking module provided between the image forming apparatus module and the loading module, the docking module including inboard and outboard protrusions that mate with the inboard and outboard docking blocks when the second module is in the docked position and release from the docking blocks when the second module is in the undocked position; and at least one biased plunger mounted to the loading module that applies an urging force to the docking module to retain the inboard and outboard protrusions against the docking blocks at least when the second module is in the docked position, wherein the docking module is loosely constrained with multiple degrees of freedom by three spherical bearings configured to allow the docking module to at least rotate about the X, Y and Z axes with limited mobility when the second module is moved between the docked position and the undocked position.