Coupling structure for a mobile video device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6406334
  • Patent Number
    6,406,334
  • Date Filed
    Monday, March 19, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 18, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Nguyen; Khiem
    • Le; Thanh-Tam
    Agents
    • Bacon & Thomas
Abstract
Coupling structure for mobile video device provided with a signal terminal having multiple signal contact points as outputs of the mobile video device and provided with a terminal jack disposed in a seat and having multiple signal contact points corresponding to the signal contact points of the signal terminal. The signal terminal can be more easily and quickly inserted into the seat to couple with the terminal jack or extracted therefrom for service. The terminal jack is mounted on a multistage adjustment device so that the height of the mobile video device can be multistage adjusted.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention is related to a coupling structure for mobile video device, by which the mobile video device can be more easily installed and extracted. The coupling structure is provided with a multistage adjustment device so that the height of the mobile video device can be multistage adjusted.




Subsequent to the soaring popularity of the personal mobile video device, convenience of maintenance job is considered more important than ever. However, as the wiring in a conventional mobile video device is usually coupled in way of point or cup joint, it would be rather troublesome to open the seat for wire-cutting and wire-connecting when maintaining.





FIG. 1

shows a coupling structure for the conventional mobile video device. A video device C is disposed in a pillow A. A plurality of signal transmission lines C


1


penetrate through a branch pipe A


1


of the pillow A and then are sleeve-jointed with an adapter C


2


which is coupled to a signal transmission line D extended out of a seat B. Another branch pipe A


1


is swiveled to lock on a pipe head A


2


.




The conventional coupling structure has some imperfections as follows:




1. The coupling way of the conventional coupling structure of mobile video device is such that the wires are staggered and connected or the wires are connected by means of an adapter. Such connection procedure is time-consuming and laborious.




2. During maintenance, it is often necessary to draw out the entire set of signal transmission lines and cut the lines for detaching and servicing the mobile video device. Then, the wires are again connected. Such procedure is troublesome and time-consuming.




3. The conventional coupling structure of mobile video device has very poor stability. Therefore, it often takes place that the signal transmission line loosens and detaches.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a coupling structure for mobile video device. The coupling structure includes a signal terminal having multiple signal contact points as outputs of the mobile video device and a terminal jack disposed in a seat and having multiple signal contact points corresponding to the signal contact points of the signal terminal. The signal terminal can be more easily and quickly inserted into the seat to couple with the terminal jack or extracted therefrom for service. The terminal jack is mounted on a multistage adjustment device so that the height of the mobile video device can be multistage adjusted.




The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a schematic diagram showing the coupling structure of a conventional mobile video device;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of the coupling structure of the mobile video device of the present invention;





FIG. 3-1

is a plane view of an embodiment of the signal terminal of the present invention;





FIG. 3-2

is a plane view of another embodiment of the signal terminal of the present invention;





FIG. 3-3

is a plane view of still another embodiment of the signal terminal of the present invention;





FIG. 4-1

is a plane view of still another embodiment of the signal terminal of the present invention;





FIG. 4-2

is a plane view of still another embodiment of the signal terminal of the present invention;





FIG. 4-3

is a plane view of still another embodiment of the signal terminal of the present invention;





FIG. 4-4

is a plane view of still another embodiment of the signal terminal of the present invention;





FIG. 5-1

is a sectional view showing a connection measure between the signal terminal and the terminal jack of the present invention;





FIG. 5-2

is a sectional view showing another connection measure between the signal terminal and the terminal jack of the present invention; and





FIG. 6

is a sectional view showing the adjustment device of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Please refer to FIG.


2


. The mobile video device


3


of the present invention is included in a pillow


1


. A signal transmission line


31


of the mobile video device


3


is conducted through the interior of a branch pipe


11


of the pillow


1


and extended to a lower end of the branch pipe


11


. The signal transmission line


31


is then coupled with a signal terminal


32


disposed at the lower end of the branch pipe


11


. A pair of the branch pipes


11


of the pillow


1


are inserted into two insertion holes


21


formed on upper side of the back of a seat


2


. Therefore, the branch pipes


11


are inserted into the back of the seat


2


. An adjustment device


4


is disposed in the seat


2


, corresponding to and facing the insertion holes


21


. A pair of movably adjustable terminal jacks


41


are arranged on the adjustment device


4


. When the branch pipes


11


are inserted into the insertion holes


21


, the branch pipes


11


are snap-fastened to the terminal jacks


41


. The adjustment device


4


includes a displacement block


42


and two displacement rails


43


along which the displacement block


42


is vertically movable. The terminal jacks


41


are retained on the displacement block


42


. Therefore, after inserted into the terminal jacks


41


, in virtue of the terminal jacks


41


and the displacement block


42


, the mobile video device


3


is movable up and down along the displacement rails


43


. At an upper and a lower ends of the adjustment device


4


, an upper and a lower stoppers


44


,


45


are disposed. When extracting the mobile video device


3


, the upper stopper


44


serves to stop the displacement block


42


from sliding. The lower stopper


45


enables the signal terminals


32


of the mobile video device


3


to be easily inserted into and engaged with the terminal jacks


41


. An exit hole


416


is formed at a bottom end of the terminal jack


41


for extending a signal transmission line


46


.




Referring to

FIGS. 3-1

to


3


-


3


and


4


-


1


to


4


-


4


, a plurality of signal contact points


321


are offered to each of the signal terminals


3


according to requirement of the increasing functions of the mobile video device


3


. The signal terminal


32


is elongated in form of a multi-layer structure for accommodating the contact points


321


, which may be aligned horizontally or staggeringly, and a plurality of receptacles or slots


322


are also arranged in the signal terminal


32


. A positioning groove


323


is formed in the signal terminal


32


, and a positioning piece


111


is disposed on the branch pipes


11


to facilitate wiring of the signal terminal


32


correctly and prevent the signal terminal


32


from causing a short circuit because of improper swiveling. One or two sets of the signal terminals


32


may be arranged depending on functions provided by the mobile video device


3


.




As shown in

FIGS. 5-1

and


5


-


2


, a plurality of storage receptacles


412


are formed in the inner wall of the terminal jack


41


, wherein an elastic body


413


and a steel bead


414


are buried in the storage receptacle


412


in sequence. A plurality of positioning dimples


322


are formed on the signal terminal


32


at positions corresponding to the storage receptacles


412


of the terminal jack


41


. Therefore, the steel bead


414


of the terminal jack


41


is pushed by the elastic body


413


into the positioning dimple


322


of the signal terminal


32


when the terminal


32


is plugged to joint with the terminal jack


41


, whereby a short circuit due to improper swivel of the signal terminal


32


can be avoided. At this moment, the signal contact point


321


of the signal terminal


32


is in conductive contact with a signal contact point


411


of the terminal jack


41


.




In another way of coupling the signal terminal


32


with the terminal jack


41


, a plurality of elastic pieces


415


are disposed in the inner wall of the terminal jack


41


and a plurality of positioning dimples


322


are formed on the signal terminal


32


at positions corresponding to the elastic pieces


415


. Hence, the elastic piece


415


is snap-retained in the positioning dimple


322


when the signal terminal


32


is plugged to joint with the terminal jack


41


. At this time, the signal contact point


321


of the signal terminal


32


is in conductive contact with the signal contact point


411


of the terminal jack


41


.




In

FIG. 6

, after the signal terminals


32


have been snap-retained in the terminal jacks


41


of the adjustment device


4


, the mobile video device


3


is movable up and down along the displacement rails


43


by means of the displacement block


42


. As aforesaid, at the upper and lower ends of the adjustment device


4


, the upper and lower stoppers


44


,


45


are disposed. When extracting the mobile video device


3


, the upper stopper


44


serves to stop the displacement block


42


from sliding. The lower stopper


45


enables the signal terminals


32


of the mobile video device


3


to be easily inserted into and engaged with the terminal jacks


41


. An exit hole


416


is formed at the bottom end of the terminal jack


41


for extending the signal transmission line


46


. Furthermore, a plurality of positioning dimples


421


are disposed at two lateral lines properly in the displacement block


42


, while a plurality of storage receptacles


431


are formed in those two displacement rails


43


. An elastic body


432


and a steel bead


433


are buried in each storage receptacle


431


sequentially. Hence, the height of the pillow


1


of the mobile video device


3


can be adjusted as desired.




The present invention has the following advantages:




1. The coupling structure of the mobile video device of the present invention makes it easier to connect the signal terminal with the terminal jack.




2. When maintained or serviced, it is unnecessary to drawn out the entire set of signal line. Instead, the signal terminal of the mobile video device can be directly extracted from the terminal jack. Without cutting line, the entire set of mobile video device can be detached for service. Then, the signal terminal of the mobile video device is again plugged into the terminal jack. Such procedure is quite easy and convenient.




3. The signal line of the mobile video device will not detach or drop due to improper wiring. Therefore, a stable signal transmission can be achieved.




In conclusion, the present invention provides a coupling structure that is more advantageous for installing and maintaining a mobile video device. The signal terminal has multiple contact points and the terminal jack cooperatively has multiple contact points. By means of the adjustment device, the height of the mobile video device can be multistage adjusted.




The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. Coupling structure for mobile video device buried in a pillow, said coupling structure being characterized in that a signal transmission line of the mobile video device is conducted through an interior of a branch pipe of the pillow and extended to a lower end of the branch pipe, the signal transmission line being then coupled with a signal terminal disposed at the lower end of the branch pipe, a pair of the branch pipes of the pillow being inserted into two insertion holes formed on upper side of a seat, a terminal jack being disposed in the seat, corresponding to and facing the insertion holes, whereby when the branch pipes are inserted into the insertion holes, the signal terminals are snap-fastened to the terminal jacks so as to easily locate the mobile video device on the seat for signal transmission, wherein the terminal jacks are slidably mounted on an adjustment device fixedly disposed in the seat, whereby the terminal jacks can be moved up and down along the adjustment device.
  • 2. Coupling structure for mobile video device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signal terminal is provided with multiple sets of signal contact points.
  • 3. Coupling structure for mobile video device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signal terminal is lengthened to have multiple sets of signal contact points and to form a multi-layer signal terminal, the signal contact points being aligned horizontally or staggeringly to enhance transmission capacity of the mobile video device.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/502,457, filed on Feb. 11, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,967.

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Number Name Date Kind
3019050 Spielman Jan 1962 A
4097111 Martin Jun 1978 A
5267775 Nguyen Dec 1993 A
5387026 Matsuhashi et al. Feb 1995 A
5409403 Falossi et al. Apr 1995 A
5482352 Leal et al. Jan 1996 A
5507556 Dixon Apr 1996 A
5713633 Lu Feb 1998 A
5807177 Takemoto et al. Sep 1998 A
6065806 Iyaguchi et al. May 2000 A
6089663 Hill Jul 2000 A
6179381 Gevaert Jan 2001 B1
6215518 Watkins Apr 2001 B1
6270157 Kapushinski Aug 2001 B1
Continuations (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 09/502457 Feb 2000 US
Child 09/810257 US