US 8545247

US Patent 8545247, titled "Dock for a portable electronic device," provides a solution for safely and easily docking portable electronic devices by incorporating an elastically deformable support for the connector.

Here's a concise summary of the patent:

• Title: Dock for a portable electronic device [cite: The provided patent text]
• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Ltd [cite: The provided patent text]
• Original Assignee: BlackBerry Ltd [cite: The provided patent text]
• Inventors: Leonardo Aldana, Ming-Lun Dave MA, Dietmar Frank Wennemer, Felipe Oliveira Simoes [cite: The provided patent text]
• Filing Date: 2012-02-15 [cite: The provided patent text]
• Issue Date: 2013-10-01 [cite: The provided patent text]
• Abstract: A dock for receiving a portable electronic device, including a housing comprising an aperture; a support coupled to an inner wall of the housing, a portion of the support being elastically deformable; and a connector received in the support and extending through the aperture for electrically communicating with the portable electronic device, wiring of the connector for transferring data to an electronic device; wherein the portion of the support elastically deforms in response to non-axial movement of at least a portion of the connector. [cite: The provided patent text]

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Claim 1: This claim describes a dock for a portable electronic device. It includes a main body (housing) with an opening (aperture). Inside the housing, there's a flexible holder (support) that can bend. A connector, which handles power or data, sits in this flexible holder and pokes through the opening to connect with the portable device. A key feature is a ring-like part (collar) that surrounds the connector inside the housing. This collar stops the connector from moving too much side-to-side, but still allows it to tilt (pivot) slightly. The flexible holder is designed to bend and absorb movement when the connector is pushed or pulled from the side (non-axial movement). [cite: The provided patent text]

• Claim 12: This independent claim also describes a dock for a portable electronic device. It features a housing with an opening and a flexible support that includes a "spring component" inside a "support tray." This spring component has a channel (passage) for the connector, and this passage contains "ribs" that touch the connector. The spring component is designed to be flexible when the connector moves sideways (non-axially). A specific detail of this claim is that the ribs become thinner (their cross-sectional area is reduced) as they go from the top part of the spring component (near the housing's opening) to the bottom part. [cite: The provided patent text]

• Claim 13: This claim outlines a dock similar to Claim 1, with a housing, an aperture, a support, and a connector. However, it specifically adds a "pad" within the support. This pad is designed to be flexible and absorb movement when the connector is pushed or pulled straight into or out of the dock (axial movement). The broader support structure, as in Claim 1, still deforms elastically in response to sideways (non-axial) movement of the connector. [cite: The provided patent text]

• Claim 14: This claim describes a "connector assembly" which is a component designed to be installed into a larger dock. This assembly includes a support that has a flexible "spring component" inside a "support tray." The spring component has a channel (passage) for a connector. The claim specifies that this passage has "ribs" that touch the connector. A distinctive feature here is that the cross-sectional area of these ribs decreases from the top end of the spring component (which would be near the housing's opening in a dock) to its bottom end. [cite: The provided patent text]

• Claim 15: This claim also describes a "connector assembly" for a dock. It includes a support with a "collar," where a part of the support is designed to be flexible. It also has a connector housed within this support. The key feature is that the flexible part of the support deforms elastically, allowing the connector to both move sideways (non-axial translation) and tilt (pivot) relative to the collar. This flexibility helps the connector align with the portable electronic device. [cite: The provided patent text]

CAFC 2026 Dockets:
No specific litigation involving US patent 8545247 was found in the CAFC 2026 dockets. The search results provided general information on patent-related cases in the Federal Circuit for 2026, but no direct mention of this particular patent.