 |
| The "goodz" |
 |
| Well check it out. In the age of digital interfaces, we have a machine which is rather satisfyingly analog. The little switch in this picture physically moved a whole framework of moving parts (pic directly above) which in turn moved other spring loaded mechanisms (pic directly below) that locked the laptop onto the docking station. Only one question... why does red mean unlocked? |
 |
| I wanna call this a living hinge... not sure if it technically is though |
 |
| In a separate analog system, a big "ejection" button on the top of the unit moved this rather beefy metal arm which hit little ejector pins, physically popping your laptop up and off |
 |
| Ah, so there are some circuit boards in here... |
 |
| Lots of these annoying little hex head screws not only held the circuit boards onto its metal housing but acted as the anchors for attaching your monitors n' such. Clever dual usage |
 |
| Bottom of the main board. Do I call it a motherboard, or is that just for computers...? |
 |
| See these raised metal tabs all over (detail shot below)? They synced up with the little metal squares on the underside of the circuit board (detail two pics below). I wonder if the whole metal housing itself acted as a circuit between those nodes! Fascinating. |
There you have it. Nothing too special, but some nice surprises in there. I've got a couple other fancier docking stations as well, but they use the fanciest screws I've seen yet: star with a pin in the middle! Guess I have to track down another screw driver.
The metal tabs on the chassis are most likely to be ground connections.
ReplyDeleteThose little tabs are for (as mentioned above) connecting the external metal chassis to the ground of the circuit. This is done to make the system more resilient to external electrical noise which might interfere with it (Google EMI shielding if you want to know more), it's the same theory behind that metal "can" you popped off part of the main board. Stuff like this is often required for a produce to pass compliance (FCC if you're in the US) testing.
ReplyDeleteYou might also see the same setup in electronics that connect to mains power but here it may act as a safety device. If the internal circuitry contacts the metal shield it trips the earth return breaker in the house and cuts off the power preventing users from getting a shock if they contact the metal case.
I suggest getting a folding torx set, or a multibit one. Maplin or Stanley do various models. The biggest problem I find with torx bits is that even on a single device there are often screws of different sizes, and sometimes they are particularly small, so it's worth investing in a set with plenty of bits.
ReplyDeleteThe 'star with a pin in the middle' are called security Torx. Should make your search easier.
ReplyDelete