1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to docking stations and, more specifically, to the guide rails used with a docking station to simplify the interfacing of a portable computer with a docking station.
2. Background Art
The ease of traveling with portable computers, e.g. portable computers, has been one of the factors in their increasing popularity. A portable computer is often constructed with a liquid crystal display handedly attached to the main body of the computer. The display panel also forms a cover for the keyboard, that is built onto the main body. Various ports are located along the rear side of the main body for attaching various input or output devices. However, the amount of time necessary to connect and disconnect a portable computer from peripheral devices is often inconvenient when a user is in a rush. To simplify the connection of portable computer computers to peripheral devices, a docking station is used to allow the portable computer to quickly connect and disconnect to a host of peripheral devices. The connection between the portable computer and the docking station is important for the effective use of the portable computer.
One problem with typical docking stations is that they are designed to only operate with one type of portable computer. Thus, preventing owners of multiple portable computers from easily connecting to the same set of external peripheral devices. In response to this problem docking stations have been developed that allow various types of portable computers to interface with the same docking station. Different techniques for connecting one docking station to various portable computers are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,226 to Cavello entitled Computer Docking Station Having Interchangeable Receivers Configured for Docking Various Sized Portable Computers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,093 to Noguchi entitled Portable Computer Docking Device Having a First Rotatable Connector and a Second Connector, U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,959 to Penniman entitled Notebook Computer Docking Station Having Floating Connector Interface Structure, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,292 to Paulsel entitled Portable Computer Docking Station with Removable Support Shelf Apparatus. The docking stations provided by the contemporary art do not offer an apparatus for interfacing a portable computer with a docking station that has a simple design, that is easy to assemble by non-technical workers, that has few component parts, that allows multiple types of portable computers to interface with one docking station, and that is easy for a user to adjust.
As such, I believe it may be possible to improve on the contemporary art by providing a docking station that can interface with a variety of portable computers, that has a simplified design, that is easy to assemble for non-technical workers, that has few component parts, and that is easy for a user to adjust when switching the type of laptop being interfaced with the docking station.