Patent Application
20120057282
1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to display monitors and, particularly, to a flat-panel display monitor using a support stand.
2. Description of the Related Art
A viewing angle of a display screen of a flat-panel display monitor can be adjusted by a support stand, so that users can view the display screen from different positions.
A typical support stand may includes a monitor bracket, a hinge assembly, a support bracket, and a base member. The monitor bracket is attached to the flat-panel display monitor. The hinge assembly is connected to the monitor bracket and the support bracket. The support bracket is positioned on the base member. The hinge assembly may include a pivot shaft, a friction washer, a plurality of resilient washers, a rotary member rotatably sleeved on the shaft, and a fastening member. The rotary member and the shaft are fixed to the monitor bracket and the support bracket. The friction washer and the resilient washers are sleeved on the pivot shaft. The resilient washers create an axial force to push the friction washer to resist the rotary member. The fastening member is fixed on an end of the pivot shaft to prevent the resilient washers and the friction washer from detaching from the pivot shaft. The monitor bracket together with rotary member may be positioned in any position relative to the shaft because of friction created between the friction washer and the rotary member.
However, the typical support stand may includes many components, thus the cost of the typical support stand may be relatively high. In addition, it may be troublesome to assemble the support stand. Furthermore, over time, the friction causes abrasion of the engaging surfaces of the rotary member and the friction washer, resulting in little or no friction between the rotary member and the friction washer. Thus, the monitor bracket together with the rotary member may be incapable of remaining in any desired position. Therefore, the support stand may have a relatively short usage life.
Therefore, a new support stand for a flat-panel display monitor is desired to overcome the above-described shortcomings.
The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout several views, and all the views are schematic.
The present support stand may be used for electronic devices such as display devices and integral computers such as computers with display screens and host computers positioned in an integrally frame, and so on. Referring to
The flat-panel display monitor 100 comprises a display body 20, and a support stand 30 connected to the display body 20. The display body 20 comprises a support portion 201 formed at an edge of the display body 20. The support portion 201 bends towards one side of the display body 20. The display body 20 further defines a latching groove 202 adjacent to a middle part of the support portion 201.
Referring to
The support member 31 comprises a hollow base portion 311 and two arched plates 312 extending from an end of the base portion 311. The base portion 311 may be substantially arched. The arched plates 312 cooperatively define a receiving hole 313. A first fixing portion 314 extends from an end of a first of the two arched plates 312, and a second fixing portion 315 extends from an end of a second of the two arched plates 312. The first and second fixing portions 314, 315 may be plate-shaped and substantially parallel to each other. The first fixing portion 314 defines two through holes 316 and the second fixing portion defines two threaded holes 317.
Each of the two friction member 32s comprises a friction portion 321, and a connecting portion 322 extending from an end of the friction portion 321. Both the cylindrical friction portion 321 and the connecting portion are substantially cylindrically shaped. The friction member 32 defines an engaging hole (not labeled) extending through the friction portion 321 and the connecting portion 322. An outer diameter of the friction portion 321 is larger than an outer diameter of the connecting portion 322. An inner surface of the engaging hole uniformly defines a plurality of elongated grooves 323 having a length than a length of the friction member 32. The plurality of elongated grooves 323 are substantially parallel.
The torsion spring 33 includes two spring coils 331, a connecting arm 332 connecting each of the two spring coils 331, and two resisting ends 333. Each of the two resisting ends 333 extends from each of the two spring coils 331. A length of the connecting arm 332 is substantially equal to the length of the arched plate 312.
Referring also to
The second connecting bracket 35 is similar in principle to the first connecting bracket 34. The second connecting bracket comprises a main body 350, and an engaging portion 357 connected to the main body 350. However, an end portion of a first base wall 351 away from a second base wall 352 defines a plurality of positioning holes 3511 to engage with the plurality of positioning pieces 3411 of the first connecting bracket 354, and an inner surface of each of two first side walls 353 defines a fixing groove 3531 to engage with the latching hook 3431 of each of the two first side wall 343 of the first connecting bracket 34.
Each of the two fixing members 36 may be screws.
The support member 31, the first and second connecting brackets 34, 35 may be made of a rigid plastic such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or polycarbonate. Each of the two friction members 32 may be made of a soft plastic such as silica gel or polyurethane.
Referring to
After the support stand 30 is assembled, portions of the first and second connecting brackets 34, 35 are latched in the latching groove 202 of the display body 20 via the hook portion 3421 of the first connecting bracket 34 and a hook portion 3521 of the second connecting bracket 35, thereby connecting the support stand 30 to the display body 20. When the flat-panel display monitor 100 is positioned on a support surface, such as a flat surface of a desk, the support member 31 of the support stand 30 and the support portion 201 of the display body 20 are supported by the support surface. Since friction is created between the support member 31 and the two friction members 32, the support member 31 may not rotate relative to the display body 20. A viewing angle of the display body 20 may be adjusted by applying an external force on a top edge of the display body 20 or on the support member 31, so that the support member 31 is rotated relative to the display body 20. When the external force is released, the friction prevents the support member 31 from rotating relative to the display body 20. A rotating range of base portion 31 relative to the display body 20 is limited by the restricting groove 3451 of the first connecting bracket 34 and the restricting groove 3551 of the second connecting bracket 35.
The support stand 30 only comprises several components, so the cost of the support stand 30 may be relatively low and may be simple to assemble the support stand 30. When the two friction members 32 are rotatably clamped by the arched plates 312 of the support member 31, a clamping force between the arched plates 312 and the two friction members 32 may be conveniently adjusted by varying the tension of the fixing members 36. Therefore, the friction between the support member 31 and the two friction members 32 may be adjusted to adapt to display bodies with different weights. In addition, a contact surface between the two friction members 32 and the arched plates 312 of the support member 31 is relatively large, so after repeated use, the friction may be still sufficient for holding the support member 31 in any position, thereby prolonging a usage life of the support stand 30.
It may be appreciated that the torsion spring 33 may be omitted. In addition, the support stand 30 may include only one friction member including a friction portion rotabably clamped by arched plates 312 of the support member 31 and two connecting portions extending from opposite ends of the friction portion. The connecting portions may be connected to the engaging portion 347 of the first connecting bracket 34 and the engaging portion 357 of the second connecting bracket 35. The support member 31 and the first and second connecting brackets 34, 35 may also be made of other rigid materials, such as a powder metallurgy material.
Finally, while various embodiments have been described and illustrated, the disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various modifications can be made to the embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200810304196.8 | Aug 2008 | CN | national |
The present application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/344,669, filed on Dec. 29, 2008, which claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from CN 200810304196.8, filed on Aug. 26, 2008, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12344669 | Dec 2008 | US |
| Child | 13292204 | US |
