Patent ID: 8441787

Claim:
A portable I/O docking accessory that allows continuous mobile use in an ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing form factor for a tablet PC comprising: a plastic housing; a printed circuit board with circuitry; an alignment means to mate said portable I/O docking accessory to a tablet PC; an attachably detachable mechanically rigid coupling means to engage a portable docking accessory to a tablet PC without fasteners; said alignment means creates the blind alignment of a plane target connector along the bottom edge of a Tablet PC with a spring pin connector contained on said printed circuit board with circuitry; said alignment means comprises locating pins, adjacent to said spring pin connector, said locating pins are directly fastened with fasteners to said printed circuit board, said printed circuit board is fastened directly with fasteners to said plastic housing; coupling of said portable I/O docking accessory with said tablet PC requires insertion of said locating pins with mating holes in said tablet PC; the latching mechanism of said portable I/O docking accessory with said tablet PC requires engagement of a hole on a cantilevered protrusion that is located on said plastic housing with a mating pin of similar shape and size on the tablet PC; said cantilevered protrusion on said plastic housing is at an planar orientation normal to the axis of said locating pins and uses said printed circuit board as a torsion spring to maintain coupling force between the locating pins on the portable I/O docking accessory and the locating pin on the tablet PC; said cantilevered protrusion on said plastic housing further mates with a recessed channel on said tablet PC to prevent rotational torque of housing; Top and Bottom Contours of said plastic housing mimic mating contours on said tablet PC to further align said housing with said tablet PC; Said printed circuit board provides voltage regulation from PC battery voltage levels to I/O levels, fuse protection to PC, ESD protection to PC, and routing from the spring pin connector to the industry standard connector(s) for I/O.