A cradle for supporting and retaining a tablet computer having four sides, a front, and a back. The cradle has a base, projecting arms coupled to the base and located along three of the four sides of the tablet computer when the back of the computer is on the base, and one or more moveable arms that are selectively engagable along the fourth side of the tablet computer when the back of the computer is on the base, to selectively retain the tablet computer in the cradle.

A portable workspace for laptop computers that includes a main compartment configured to store computer peripherals and work materials in one or more storage spaces therein and a work surface area configured to securely store a laptop computer between a lid pivotally attached to the main compartment and the top surface of the main compartment. A retractable handle assembly is attached to the main compartment and utilized to move the workspace apparatus on wheels rotatably disposed in a wheel com...

An expansion box for use in notebook computers includes a box having a base and four side walls, two lateral side walls thereof being provided with projections for insertion into corresponding slots at the bottom side of a notebook computer; an expansion board fastened to the box and having an expansion connector at an upper side thereof and, more than one unit connector connected to the expansion connector via wires at a lower side thereof and a plurality of expansion units in the form of cartr...

A mobile computer keyboard including a metal frame, a plastic key base frame with key switches fastened to the metal frame to hold down a membrane circuit and a rubber frame. The metal frame has a plurality of retainer rods respectively terminating in a respective upwardly bent portion for guiding respective locating rods of the key base frame into engagement with the retainer rods, and a plurality of openings on two opposite upright sides thereof for allowing respective retaining blocks of the ...

A portable shelf apparatus for a notebook computer adapted to be mounted on a stationary body such as a table having an edge in which a pair of folding supports each includes an elongated support arm and a hanger for suspending the support from the edge, the hanger and arm are joined by a support hinge, and a deck having opposite ends attached to the support arms for supporting the notebook computer thereon. Each end of the deck is either foldably attached to one of the support arms by an end hi...

A lighting device for use with a computer, including: an elongated, hollow, flexible neck, a plug fastened to the flexible neck at one end for connection to the computer, and a lamp assembly fastened to the flexible neck at an opposite end and connected to the plug by an electric wire, the flexible neck having a flexible metal wire axially mounted on the inside, the flexible metal wire having a hook at one end fixedly connected to the plug by a resin block, the resin block being molded on the ho...

A chassis assembly for computers is disclosed. In the chassis assembly, the main chassis and bottom chassis are suitable for being manually assembled and disassembled, thus allowing a user to easily handle the assembly with improved work efficiency while repairing or upgrading a computer. The main chassis, having front and rear panels, is open at the bottom between the lower edges of the front and rear panels. The bottom chassis is detachably mounted to the open bottom of the main chassis. The c...

An automated payment system particularly suited for purchases over a distributed computer network such as the Internet. In such a distributed computer network, a merchant or vending computer contains certain promotional information which is communicated to a customer's computer. Based upon the promotional information, the operator of the customer's computer decides to purchase the services or goods described by the promotional information. The customer's computer is linked to a payment processin...

A multimedia device adapted for use on portable computers is movably mounted on a portable computer which consists of a first member and a second member that are openable and foldable relative to each other. When the portable computer is opened, the multimedia device may be turned to a use position. The multimedia device has a latch member turnable to latch and couple the first and second members in a closed condition when they are moved too close to each other for folding.

A method and apparatus for automatically manufacturing a computer. An order is received from a customer. A manufacturing plant assembles together the hardware and software components from stores specified by the order, and loads the software packages onto the computer. A Web page is provided for the customer to specify any software modifications required. Those modifications are recorded as auto-modification files. The auto-modification files and the order details are checked against each other ...