Laptop harness

I was recently at a mill setting up hydraulic actuators and VFDs. I often had to hold my laptop in my left arm while I typed one handed with my right hand. This allowed me to be next to the machine I was controlling. I want to know if any of you have used and can recommend a laptop harness that would attach to the torso and be suspended by the shoulders so I can use two hands for typing. I searched on the internet and found one. I was wondering if anyone else had really used and like a laptop harness.

Sounds interesting... I often find myself kneeling on the floor.

The harness will not work either, too close to body. Get one of those camping/fishing seats, maybe 2, easy to carry and gives you a table and seat OR get one of those folding aluminum tables (what I have). I think I got mine at Sam's or Wally World, lightweight and compact.

Another idea is one of those bed tables, at least nothing is in the way but will need a something to sit on.

One of these days I am going to design a portable magnetic table that you can mount on the inside of panel doors. Ronco probably beat me to it.

A good camera tripod with an aluminum plate that has angles in the corners to keep the laptop there. Adjusts to any height and angle.

Drewcrew6

rsdoran said:

One of these days I am going to design a portable magnetic table that you can mount on the inside of panel doors. Ronco probably beat me to it.

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I've thought the same thing. I could make a portable folding lap top support with a releaseable magnet easily enough in the machine shop, but what worried me was having my hard drive around something that is magnetic. Sooner or later one will get set on top of the other.


Peter, you might want to take a look at one of these or one of these.

Tell you what, get an old hdd and put something on it then put in laptop and see if can make magnet affect it. TRY HARD, but have the hdd in laptop.

rsdoran said:

Tell you what, get an old hdd and put something on it then put in laptop and see if can make magnet affect it. TRY HARD, but have the hdd in laptop.

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An associate of mind bought himself a GPS solution for his laptop , it had a mag base on the antenna , and while playing with it , he set it up on top of his laptop - guess what ? no operating system .

I'll let you carry out that test .

The tripod idea is a good one, but instead of corners to contain the laptop, put a layer of rubber on top of the aluminum plate. Strips of mastic tape would work great. The friction would prevent the laptop from sliding off.

I used to have a shelf I made that clipped onto the bottom of an enclosure, using a piece of wood with two vinyl coated metal clips on it. It would slip around the lip on the bottom of the enclosure, then hold itself snug with a little weight on it. It worked great, but someone in the shop cannibalized it one day when I was out in the field, and I never made another one.

10BaseT. said:

An associate of mind bought himself a GPS solution for his laptop , it had a mag base on the antenna , and while playing with it , he set it up on top of his laptop - guess what ? no operating system .

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Completely normal. I'm pretty sure it was a normal laptop and not an industrial one, because this is one of the differences between normal laptops and the more expensive industrial laptops: industrial ones have magnetic and/or electrostatic shielding. The same effect can be witnessed if you come too close to a high frequency source such as a variable frequency drive. The cheaper industrial laptops have only electrostatic shielding, which can be accomplished by spraying a metallic pait to the inside of the casing, the more expensive ones have a solid metal shield inside, which makes these almost insensitive for magnetic field.

Kind regards,

10BaseT. said:

An associate of mind bought himself a GPS solution for his laptop , it had a mag base on the antenna , and while playing with it , he set it up on top of his laptop - guess what ? no operating system .

I'll let you carry out that test .

Click to expand...

I've had magnetic problems in the past. On one job i found the best place to put the laptop was on top of a UPS in the bottom of the panel, gave me a nice height for programming but after a week of it sat there constantly i started seeing data corruption then the laptop HD packed up completely!

Cheers,

Lee

Unfortunately I can't justify the 6000 euro for a siemens industrial PC , as much as a may covet one !
And I think if I did , I would still be wary about playing games with magnets !

Alaric said:

Peter, you might want to take a look at one of these or one of these.

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I like the tripod the best because it folds up into a small package. I don't need one of these when I am home. I only need one when I travel so portability is a must.

Is there a standard spacing between the rails that keep people away from industrial equipment. Last year when I was in Australia there was a small table that hooked on to the top rail and the far end of the table was supported by legs that when down to the lower or middle rail. This worked well but it wasn't too portable.

I will keep looking. I am beginning to think that borrowing a chair is the best idea.

I am surprised that more of you haven't had the same quesitons. I was at a plant that made frames for SUV and H2s and the PLC programmer there was always on the move holding his laptop in his left arm and typing with his right hand.

I usually end up buying a cheap cart with wheels and a cheap office chair from WalMart, and just expense it and leave it at the plant when I'm finished.

Something portable for tight spaces would be nice though. Maybe something that clamps to a pipe or column.

I have often thought of designing something for this but see that others have gotten there already.

One of the programmers I contract has a light weight, low folding table and 5 gal bucket with a cushion on it for a seat. He keeps all his cables in the bucket.

I usually end up on a 55gal drum with a piece of cardboard or plywood over it as most places I'm at seem to have both of these.

At my last job we did a project w/ a 3 door enclosure which I lobbied hard to get a shelf put on the enclosure but lost. Later, during startup, the laptop was sitting on a manwalk on the machine (the only flat surface near the programming port). We were looking at something on the machine and walked over the laptop to get there. When we came back we noticed one of us had accidently kicked the screen and taken it out. So my boss had to buy a new $2000 laptop instead of spending a couple $100 on the shelf. Sadly, I don't think he learned his lesson :-(.

One other thing I have learned is to NEVER screw the connectors onto my laptop ports. If someone kicks the cord they will hopefully they just pull the cable away from the laptop vs. pulling the computer down on the floor. I even have an ethernet cable with the tab broken on one side which I put in the laptop when I'm on an extra precarious location.

One of the programmers I contract has a light weight, low folding table and 5 gal bucket with a cushion on it for a seat. He keeps all his cables in the bucket.

Click to expand...

That's me! I use an old "TV tray" that I bought for $1 at a yard sale. This is a folding tray on a stand that became popular back in the 1950's, when people got their first televisions and couldn't be away from the tube long enough to eat in the dining room. It was designed to allow you to sit in a chair in front of the TV and eat off the tray. This also makes it the right height and size for a laptop computer.

I put a strap on the TV tray and carry it over one shoulder (it ony weighs about 3 pounds), and the laptop computer case over the other shoulder. I carry my tools and cables in my left hand in a 5-gallon bucket (an old plastic hydraulic oil bucket with a cushion hot-glued to the bottom), leaving the right hand free to open doors or fight off angry electricians. When I get to the PLC location, I remove the tools, turn the bucket over to the cushioned side and use it for a seat. I unfold the tray, set the laptop on it, and connect the cable to the PLC. Instant table, instant stool. Cheap? You bet, and expendable if I have to leave in a hurry!