Granted Patent B2

US 12,443,232 · App. 18/772,379 · Granted Oct 14, 2025

Inventor: Takamitsu Suzuki (Osaka, JP)

Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

G06F1/1632H01R13/639

Abstract

Claims (57)

1. A port replicator that extends an input and output terminal of an electronic device, the port replicator comprising:

a main body including a placement surface on which the electronic device is placed, and a first hole and a second hole provided in the placement surface;

a pop-up component that is disposed in the first hole and is movable in a direction intersecting the placement surface;

a shaft that is disposed in the main body and rotatable;

a hook component that is disposed in the second hole and fixed to the shaft;

a stopper that is disposed in the main body and fixed to the shaft; and

a link component that is disposed in the main body, is movable in a movement direction that is a direction intersecting an axial direction of the shaft, and is in contact with the stopper,

wherein the pop-up component comes into contact with the link component by moving in a direction intersecting the placement surface,

the link component moves by contact with the pop-up component to release contact between the stopper and the link component,

the shaft rotates when the stopper and the link component are released from contact with each other, and

the hook component is rotated by rotation of the shaft to engage with the electronic device.

2. The port replicator according to claim 1 , wherein

the pop-up component is movable in a protruding direction protruding from the first hole and a housing direction opposite to the protruding direction,

the shaft is rotatable in a first rotation direction and a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction,

the link component is movable in a first direction away from the shaft and a second direction opposite to the first direction, and

the port replicator further comprises:

a first elastic member that biases the pop-up component in the protruding direction;

a second elastic member that biases the shaft in the second rotation direction; and

a third elastic member that biases the link component in a first direction away from the shaft.

3. The port replicator according to claim 2 , wherein

in a state where the pop-up component is moved in the protruding direction by the first elastic member and protrudes from the first hole,

the link component is moved in the first direction by the third elastic member and disposed at a first position at which the link component comes into contact with the stopper,

the shaft is held in a state of being rotated in the first rotation direction by the stopper coming into contact with the link component,

the hook component is disposed at an engagement release position where the engagement with the electronic device is released,

in a state where the pop-up component is moved in the housing direction and housed in the first hole,

the link component is moved in the second direction by coming into contact with the pop-up component and disposed at a second position at which the link component releases the contact with the stopper,

the shaft is rotated in the second rotation direction by the second elastic member when the stopper and the link component are released from contact with each other, and

the hook component is disposed at an engagement position to be engaged with the electronic device by rotation of the shaft.

4. The port replicator according to claim 3 , wherein the link component is not in contact with the stopper when the link component is disposed at the second position.

5. The port replicator according to claim 1 , wherein

the link component has a first surface in contact with the pop-up component, and

the first surface is inclined with respect to the movement direction of the link component.

6. The port replicator according to claim 5 , wherein

the pop-up component has a second surface in contact with the link component, and

the second surface is inclined with respect to the movement direction of the link component.

7. The port replicator according to claim 6 , further comprising a contact plate disposed on one of the first surface and the second surface,

wherein the contact plate is made of a material different from materials of the pop-up component and the link component.

8. The port replicator according to claim 5 , wherein the first surface has an inclination angle of 35° or more and less than 45° with respect to the movement direction of the link component.

9. The port replicator according to claim 1 , wherein

the link component has a through hole provided at a center of the link component when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the placement surface of the main body, and

the pop-up component is disposed in the through hole.

10. The port replicator according to claim 2 , wherein the third elastic member includes at least two springs symmetrically disposed with the pop-up component interposed therebetween when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the placement surface of the main body.

11. The port replicator according to claim 1 , wherein

the link component has a stopper contact surface that comes into contact with the stopper, and

the stopper contact surface is disposed at a center of the link component in an axial direction of the shaft when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the placement surface of the main body.

12. The port replicator according to claim 11 , wherein

the link component includes a recess in which the stopper is disposed, and

the stopper contact surface is provided on an inner wall of the recess.

13. The port replicator according to claim 1 , wherein the stopper and the pop-up component are linearly disposed in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the shaft when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the placement surface of the main body.

14. The port replicator according to claim 1 , wherein

the hook component includes:

a hook body fixed to the shaft; and

an engaging portion extending from the hook body,

the engaging portion includes:

a first portion extending from the hook body in a first extending direction intersecting the axial direction of the shaft; and

a second portion extending in a second extending direction intersecting the first extending direction, and

the second portion of the engaging portion has an end surface inclined toward an inside of the engaging portion.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (25)