CN112259999B

CN112259999B - Docking station

Info

Publication number: CN112259999B
Application number: CN202011127953.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 丁建涛
Original assignee: Beijing ByteDance Network Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing ByteDance Network Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-10-20
Filing date: 2020-10-20
Publication date: 2022-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 2040-10-20
Also published as: CN112259999A

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a docking station, comprising: the interface assembly includes an interface component having a stowed position wherein the interface component is disposed within the recess and an operative position wherein the interface component at least partially protrudes from the recess. The docking station of the present disclosure has promoted the aesthetic property of docking station on the one hand, and on the other hand has promoted the security and the portability of docking station, and user experience is also promoted in step.

Description

Docking station

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of electronic devices, and more particularly, to a docking station.

Background

The docking station is also called a port duplicator, which can be used for expanding terminal function ports of a notebook computer, a mobile phone and the like, and enables the corresponding terminals of the notebook computer, the mobile phone and the like to be connected with various external devices such as a driver, a large-screen display, a keyboard, a printer, a scanner and the like through an interface and a slot; the portable terminal can make up the defect that a terminal such as a light and thin notebook computer and a mobile phone is provided with relatively few accessories based on portability, so that a user can enjoy convenience and comfort like a desktop computer in an office, and the portability of the notebook computer can be exerted during mobile office. The interface components of the docking stations in the existing market are all in an open design, so that the interface components higher than the products are not attractive and safe when the user does not use the docking stations, and are not convenient to carry.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a docking station.

The present disclosure adopts the following technical solutions.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a docking station comprising: the interface assembly includes an interface component having a stowed position wherein the interface component is disposed within the recess and an operative position wherein the interface component at least partially protrudes from the recess.

According to the docking station provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, when the docking station is in a working state, that is, when a user uses the docking station to perform device expansion, the interface assembly is rotated to be in the working position, because the interface component is located outside the recessed portion, the user can conveniently realize connection with an external device such as a mobile phone, a notebook computer and the like, when the user finishes application, the user rotates the interface assembly to be in the hidden position, and because the recessed portion is lower than the upper surface of the bracket, the interface component does not protrude from the upper surface of the bracket any more, on one hand, the aesthetic property of the docking station is improved, on the other hand, the safety and the portability of the docking station are improved, and the user experience is synchronously improved.

Drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements. It should be understood that the drawings are schematic and that elements and elements are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Fig. 1 is a schematic overall perspective structure diagram of a docking station according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the interface assembly in the docking station of fig. 1 in an operative position.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the interface assembly in the docking station of fig. 1 in a hidden position.

Fig. 4 is a schematic internal structure view of the docking station of fig. 1, showing a structural schematic view of a supporting structure of a swivel and a rotation locking assembly.

Fig. 5 is a view showing the rotation lock assembly of fig. 1 in which the stopper is out of contact with the protrusion of the second rotation shaft when a downward force is applied, which corresponds to a state in which the rotation base is unlocked.

Fig. 6 shows the interface module in fig. 1 in a hidden state when a rotational force is applied, and the stopper contacts with the protrusion on the second rotating shaft under the restoring force of the first return elastic element, which corresponds to the locking state of the rotating base.

The reference numerals are represented as:

1. a base housing; 2. a support; 21. a recessed portion; 31. an interface component; 32. a rotating base; 33. a first rotating shaft; 34. a shaft sleeve; 35. a second rotating shaft; 351. a bump; 4. a rotation locking assembly; 41. a stop block; 411. a guide slope; 42. a first return spring; 43. installing a shell; 44. a force application key; 5. a second return spring; 6. a circuit board; 7. a cover plate; 101. a USB-A interface; 102. an HDMI interface; 103. a USB-C female port; 104. an earphone interface.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but rather are provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the disclosure are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

It should be understood that various steps recited in method embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in parallel and/or in parallel. Moreover, method embodiments may include additional steps and/or omit performing the illustrated steps. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

The term "include" and variations thereof as used herein are open-ended, i.e., "including but not limited to". The term "based on" is "based, at least in part, on". The term "one embodiment" means "at least one embodiment"; the term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment"; the term "some embodiments" means "at least some embodiments". Relevant definitions for other terms will be given in the following description.

It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", and the like in the present disclosure are only used for distinguishing different devices, modules or units, and are not used for limiting the order or interdependence relationship of the functions performed by the devices, modules or units.

It is noted that references to "a" or "an" in this disclosure are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting, and that those skilled in the art will recognize that reference to "one or more" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The names of messages or information exchanged between devices in the embodiments of the present disclosure are for illustrative purposes only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the messages or information.

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 1 to 6 in combination, a docking station of an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a base housing 1 and an interface assembly, wherein the base housing 1 has a support 2 therein, a receiving space is formed between the base housing 1 and the support 2 for concealed installation of components such as a circuit board 6, a recess 21 is formed on the support 2, the recess 21 is recessed toward one side of the receiving space, the interface assembly is rotatably connected with the support 2, the interface assembly comprises an interface component 31, the interface assembly has a hidden position in which the interface component 31 is located in the recess 21 and an operating position in which the interface component 31 at least partially protrudes out of the recess 21 for a user to connect peripheral equipment, the interface component can be, for example, a USB-C male connector, but also can be other interfaces with different specifications and types, and it can be understood that a plurality of interfaces can be formed on the base housing 1, so as to realize the connection with the external corresponding device, a plurality of said interfaces may include, for example, USB-a interface 101, HDMI interface 102, USB-C female port 103, earphone interface 104, etc., and a plurality of said interfaces form an electrical connection with said circuit board 6, and of course, said interface components also form an electrical connection with said circuit board 6. In this technical solution, when the docking station is in a working state, that is, when a user uses the docking station to perform device expansion, the interface assembly is rotated to be located at the working position, because the interface component 31 is located outside the recessed portion 21, the user can conveniently realize connection with an external device such as a mobile phone, a notebook computer, and the like, when the user finishes application, the user rotates the interface assembly to be located at the hidden position, and at this time, the interface component 31 is located in the recessed portion 21, because the recessed portion 21 is lower than the upper surface of the bracket 2, the interface component 31 is no longer protruded from the upper surface of the bracket 2, on one hand, the aesthetic property of the docking station is improved, on the other hand, the safety and the portability of the docking station are improved, and the user experience is also synchronously improved.

In some embodiments, the interface assembly further includes a rotating base 32, the interface component 31 is fixedly connected to the rotating base 32, a first side of the rotating base 32 is connected to a first rotating shaft 33, and the rotating base 32 is rotatably connected to the bracket 2 through the first rotating shaft 33, that is, the rotating base 32 serves as a mounting and fixing carrier for the interface component 31 on one hand, and is a component of the interface assembly, which is specifically rotatably connected to the bracket 2 on the other hand.

In some embodiments, the outer peripheral side of the first rotating shaft 33 is sleeved with a sleeve 34, it is understood that the bracket 2 is configured with a corresponding shaft hole corresponding to the sleeve 34, the sleeve 34 is located in an annular gap between the inner hole wall of the shaft hole and the outer peripheral side of the first rotating shaft 33, and the sleeve 34 may be made of a self-lubricating material to ensure smooth rotation of the interface assembly.

In some embodiments, the second side of the rotating base 32 has a second rotating shaft 35, and the second side and the first side are located at two opposite sides of the rotating base 32, that is, at this time, the two opposite sides of the rotating base 32 are respectively clamped by the first rotating shaft 33 and the second rotating shaft 35, so that the connection between the rotating base 32 and the bracket 2 is more reliable and stable, and a cantilever structure formed by one-side rotating connection is prevented from being easily unstable.

In some embodiments, the docking station further comprises a rotation locking assembly 4 connected to the bracket 2, wherein the rotation locking assembly 4 is capable of locking the second rotating shaft 35 when the interface assembly is in the hidden position, i.e. the interface assembly is stably locked in the hidden position. As an alternative embodiment of the rotation locking assembly 4, the rotation locking assembly 4 includes a stop block 41, the second rotating shaft 35 has a protrusion 351 on the peripheral wall of the shaft end, the protrusion 351 extends outward along the radial direction of the second rotating shaft 35, the stop block 41 is disposed on the rotation path of the protrusion 351, and the stop block 41 can be controllably contacted with or separated from the protrusion 351, in this technical solution, through the matching relationship between the stop block 41 and the protrusion 351, the locking effect on the rotation of the second rotating shaft 35 is realized, the structure is simple and compact, it can be understood that, when the stop block 41 is contacted with the protrusion 351, the stop block 41 can be locked at a certain preset position, such as the aforementioned hidden position, and when the stop block 41 is separated from the protrusion 351, the second rotating shaft 35 can be forced and rotated around its rotating shaft, and can eventually be held in another preset position, such as the aforementioned working position.

In some embodiments, the rotation locking assembly 4 further includes a first elastic return element 42 and a mounting housing 43, the rotation locking assembly 4 is fixedly connected to the bracket 2 through the mounting housing 43, the first elastic return element 42 is located between the stop block 41 and the mounting housing 43, and the first elastic return element 42 is implemented by, for example, a common coil spring, in this embodiment, the first elastic return element 42 can drive the stop block 41 to generate a movement trend toward the second rotating shaft 35 by virtue of its elastic restoring force, so as to reliably lock the second rotating shaft 35 when the interface assembly is in the hidden position. The rotation locking assembly 4 further includes a force application button 44, the force application button 44 is connected to a side (in some embodiments, a side facing a user) of the stopping block 41 away from the bottom wall of the mounting housing 43, optionally, the force application button 44 may also be implemented by a force application portion of the side of the stopping block 41 facing the user, and different manufacturing materials can be selected for the two components by adopting a manner that the force application button 44 and the stopping block 41 are separately assembled, for example, the stopping block 41 may be made of a material with greater strength and wear resistance due to a working condition that the stopping block has a friction motion pair in material selection, and the force application button 44 may be made of a material with certain flexibility in material selection to improve a pressing touch feeling due to the fact that the force application button is mainly in direct contact with the user.

In some embodiments, the free end of the stop block 41 (i.e. the end close to the second rotating shaft 35) has a guiding inclined surface 411, for convenience of description, the rotation direction of the interface assembly when the interface assembly is switched from the working position to the hiding position is defined as a first direction, for example, in the orientation shown in fig. 2, the interface assembly is pressed from the left side, the interface assembly finally deflects towards the right side and finally forms the state shown in fig. 3, the rotation of the second rotating shaft 35 in the process is the first direction, the guiding inclined surface 411 is on the upstream side of the first direction, as further shown in fig. 5 and fig. 6, at this time, due to the force applied by the user to the interface assembly, the interface assembly gradually deflects, and the protrusion 351 will rotate from the right side of the stop block 41 to the left side of the stop block 41 in the orientation shown in fig. 5, in this process, the first return elastic element 42 will drive the stop block 41 to move toward the second rotating shaft 35, and when the protrusion 351 is located at the right side of the stop block 41, the rotating second rotating shaft 35 will apply a force to the stop block 41 to move away from the second rotating shaft 35 by the guiding inclined plane 411, that is, compress the first return elastic element 42, and under the guiding action of the guiding inclined plane 411, the protrusion 351 is finally located at the opposite side of the stop block 41 and the guiding inclined plane 411, and further rotation of the interface module will be stopped due to the bottom wall of the recess 21, thereby achieving the switch of the interface module from the working position to the hiding position. Of course, a corresponding stop slope (not referenced in the drawings) may be configured at the free end of the stop block 41 opposite to the guide slope 411, and the stop slope can be attached to the protrusion 351 when the interface assembly is in the hidden position, so as to ensure the stability of position maintenance.

In some embodiments, the docking station further comprises a second return spring 5, wherein the second return spring 5 can apply a rotational torque to the second rotating shaft 35 to switch the interface assembly from the hidden position to the working position. For example, the second elastic resetting element 5 comprises a torsion spring, one end of the torsion spring is connected with the second rotating shaft 35, the other end of the torsion spring is fixedly connected with the circuit board 6, the interface component is switched from the working position to the hidden position, meanwhile, the compression deformation force can be applied to the second elastic resetting element 5, and when the user releases the locking action of the rotary locking component 4, the second elastic resetting element 5 enables the interface component to be switched from the hidden position to the working position under the action of the restoring force of the second elastic resetting element 5. Referring to fig. 3, 5 and 6, the operation of switching the interface module from the hidden position to the working position will be described by taking the specific orientation shown in each figure as an example, when the user needs to adopt the docking station, the force application button 44 is pressed, the elastic restoring force of the first restoring elastic member 42 is overcome, the stopper 41 is driven to move toward a side away from the second rotating shaft 35, and eventually the stopper 41 is out of contact with the projection 351, at which time, under the action of the elastic restoring force of the second elastic restoring element 5, the interface assembly is driven to switch from the hidden position to the working position, the user releases the force applied to the force applying key 44, the stopper 41 is moved toward the second rotation shaft 35 again by the elastic restoring force of the first restoring elastic member 42 and finally is positioned at the left side of the projection 351 in the orientation shown in fig. 5.

In some embodiments, the docking station further includes a cover plate 7, when the interface assembly is in the hidden position, the cover plate 7 covers the opening connected to the base housing 1, and when the interface assembly is switched to the hidden position, the cover plate 7 is fastened to the opening of the base housing 1, so that the docking station as a whole forms a relatively closed component, which effectively prevents adverse factors from affecting the external environment, for example, the docking station has good dust-proof and water-proof properties.

The foregoing description is only exemplary of the preferred embodiments of the disclosure and is illustrative of the principles of the technology employed. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the scope of the disclosure herein is not limited to the particular combination of features described above, but also encompasses other embodiments in which any combination of the features described above or their equivalents does not depart from the spirit of the disclosure. For example, the above features and (but not limited to) the features disclosed in this disclosure having similar functions are replaced with each other to form the technical solution.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order. Under certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A docking station, comprising: a base housing (1) and an interface assembly;

the base housing (1) has a support (2) therein, the support (2) having a recess (21) formed thereon, the interface assembly being rotatably connected to the support (2), the interface assembly comprising an interface member (31) having a concealed position in which the interface member (31) is disposed within the recess (21) and an operative position in which the interface member (31) at least partially protrudes from the recess (21);

the interface assembly further comprises a rotating base (32), the interface component (31) is fixedly connected to the rotating base (32), and a second rotating shaft (35) is arranged on the second side of the rotating base (32);

the docking station further comprises a rotational locking assembly (4) connected to the bracket (2), the rotational locking assembly (4) being capable of locking the second hinge (35) when the interface assembly is in the concealed position; the rotation locking assembly (4) comprises a stop block (41), a lug (351) is arranged on the peripheral wall of the shaft end of the second rotating shaft (35), the lug (351) extends outwards along the radial direction of the second rotating shaft (35), the stop block (41) is arranged on the rotating path of the lug (351), and the stop block (41) can be controllably contacted with or separated from the lug (351).

2. Docking station according to claim 1, characterized in that a first rotation shaft (33) is connected to a first side of the rotation base (32), and the rotation base (32) is rotatably connected to the bracket (2) via the first rotation shaft (33).

3. Docking station according to claim 2, characterized in that the first shaft (33) is sleeved with a sleeve (34) on its outer circumference.

4. Docking station according to claim 2, characterized in that the second side and the first side are on opposite sides of the swivel (32).

5. The docking station of claim 4,

the rotation locking assembly (4) further comprises a first return elastic member (42) and a mounting housing (43);

the rotation locking assembly (4) is fixedly connected with the bracket (2) through the mounting shell (43), and the first return elastic piece (42) is positioned between the stop block (41) and the mounting shell (43).

6. Docking station according to claim 5, characterized in that the rotation locking assembly (4) further comprises a force application key (44), which force application key (44) is connected to a side of the stop block (41) facing away from the bottom wall of the mounting housing (43).

7. Docking station according to claim 5, characterized in that the free end of the stop block (41) has a guiding bevel (411), the direction of rotation of the interface assembly when switching from the active position to the stowed position being a first direction, the guiding bevel (411) being on the upstream side of the first direction.

8. Docking station according to any of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that it further comprises a second return spring (5), said second return spring (5) being able to apply a rotational torque to said second shaft (35) to switch said interface assembly from said concealed position to said operative position.

9. Docking station according to claim 8, characterized in that the base housing (1) and the bracket (2) form a receiving space, a circuit board (6) is arranged in the receiving space, the second return elastic element (5) comprises a torsion spring, one end of the torsion spring is connected with the second rotating shaft (35), and the other end of the torsion spring is fixedly connected with the circuit board (6).

10. Docking station according to claim 1, further comprising a cover plate (7), the cover plate (7) covering the opening connected to the base housing (1) when the interface assembly is in the concealed position.