Laptop charging trolleys, also known as laptop trolleys or laptop carts, are mobile storage containers to charge

laptops A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

netbooks Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...

and

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...

s en masse. The trolleys are predominantly used in schools that have replaced their traditional static ICT suites of desktop computers with laptops, but do not have enough plug sockets in their buildings to charge all of the devices. The trolleys can be wheeled between rooms and

classrooms A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...

so that anyone in a particular building can access fully charged IT equipment. Laptop charging trolleys are also used to deter and protect against opportunistic and organized

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

Schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

, especially those with

open plan Open plan is the generic term used in architectural and interior design for any floor plan that makes use of large, open spaces and minimizes the use of small, enclosed rooms such as private offices. The term can also refer to landscaping of h ...

designs, are often prime targets for

thieves Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

and laptops, netbooks and tablets can easily be concealed and removed from buildings. Laptop charging trolleys were designed and constructed to protect against theft. They are generally made out of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

, and the laptops remain locked up while not in use. Although the trolleys can be moved between areas in

buildings A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and funct ...

, they can often also be mounted to the

floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...

or walls to prevent thieves walking off with investments, especially overnight.

History

The first laptop charging trolley to be produced in the UK, the Mentor™, appeared in 2000 and was designed and manufactured by LapSafe Products to be sold into the UK. Two different kinds of laptop charging was offered, ChargeLine, in which users plug a laptop's original

AC adaptor An AC adapter or AC/DC adapter is a type of external power supply, often enclosed in a case similar to an AC plug. Other common names include wall wart, power brick, wall charger, and power adapter. Adapters for battery-powered equipment may ...

into flush plug sockets inside the unit, and

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

ed SmartLine, which replaces AC adaptors with pre-configured charging cables to save time. The original laptop trolley was designed to be

modular Broadly speaking, modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a sy ...

so that modules could be replaced and upgraded in the future to cater for new equipment. There are now several

manufacturers Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a range ...

of laptop charging trolleys across the UK and the rest of the

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, ranging from basic and budget trolleys that simply charge devices, to more sophisticated

charging Charging may refer to: * Charging (ice hockey), when a player takes more than three steps before checking an opposing player * Battery charger, a device used to put energy into a rechargeable battery * Charging station, a device used for rechargi ...

carts that are incredibly secure and use integrated charging. The charging trolleys can often be used as complete mobile ICT

, with some trolleys coming complete with

wireless router A wireless router is a device that performs the functions of a router and also includes the functions of a wireless access point. It is used to provide access to the Internet or a private computer network. Depending on the manufacturer and mode ...

for

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

access and data cables to update all of the laptops with

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

simultaneously.

Health and safety

In 2009, the UK

Health and Safety Executive The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a UK government agency responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain. It is a non-depar ...

(HSE) issued a health and safety alert to schools with laptop charging trolleys, following an incident where a person received an electric shock. According to the HSE, the incident occurred "when a 3-pin plug supplying the trolley was removed from the supply socket, there was sufficient stored electric charge on the pins of the plug to give the user an

electric shock Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the body. The injury depends on the density of the current, tissue resistance and duration of contact. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce ...

." Contrary to

good engineering practice "Good engineering practice" or "GEP" is engineering and technical activities that ensure that a company manufactures products of the required quality as expected (e.g., by the relevant regulatory authorities). Good engineering practices are to ensur ...

, some trolley have two supply cables, inadequate plug and cable storage facilities, and unsuitable earth terminations. The HSE declared that in spite of

European law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

, some laptop charging trolleys sold by certain manufacturers have been supplied and sold without going through the correct health and safety processes, this practice resulted in the individual receiving an electrical shock. The HSE explained that, "When electrical equipment is placed on the market in the UK, the manufacturer / supplier should have established that the equipment is safe for intended use, constructed in accordance with good electrical engineering practice in relation to safety matters, and that it is in conformity with the principal elements of the safety objectives for electrical equipment as set out in the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994." The body stated that any laptop charging trolley that had not been through the above process, or been affixed with a CE Certification mark, should not go on sale within the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Ass ...

(EEA). Despite the health and safety scare, the HSE made clear that not all laptop charging trolleys are dangerous, only those that do not conform to CE Certification. The organization advised that schools and other companies intending to purchase charging trolleys should ensure these products display the CE mark. The safety issue created much furore throughout the industry.

Variations

A large variety of laptop-charging trolleys are now on the market, with some organisations preferring to use static laptop charging lockers, cabinets to store and charge their equipment in a centralised location o
charging trolleys that can be moved around for 30 or 60 laptops
Lockers that track, manage and charge laptops are also available using

Radio-frequency identification Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

(RFID) to identify when a laptop has been removed, replaced or damaged. More recently, charging trolleys for tablets have also been introduced. However, not all of these products are manufactured to the same quality, and individuals should carefully examine the product’s safety,

sophistication Sophistication has come to mean a few things, but its original uses were a pejorative, derived from sophist, and included the idea of admixture or adulteration. Today, as researched by Faye Hammill, it is common as a measure of refinement—disp ...

and level of security before making a purchase.

References

{{Reflist Charging trolley Computer peripherals

History

Health and safety

Variations

See also

References