Patent Application
20090166500
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat panel display (FPD) support, especially to an FPD support with a hinge assembly that connects an FPD to the FPD support.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
A flat panel display (FPD) is mounted on an FPD support using a hinge. The hinge is mounted on the FPD support. The FPD is attached to the hinge to allow the FPD to rotate relative to the FPD support and to adjust an angle of the FPD.
With reference to
A conventional hinge (50) is attached to the distal edge of the arm (62) and has a bracket (51), a shaft, two springs (52), two FPD connectors (53), two biasing members (54) and two fasteners (55). The bracket (51) is attached to the distal edge of the arm (62). The shaft is mounted through the bracket (51) and has two ends. The springs (52) are respectively mounted around the shaft and each spring (52) has an inner end and an outer end. The inner end of the spring (52) is fastened to the bracket (51). The FPD connectors (53) are respectively and oppositely mounted around the shaft beside the springs (52) and respectively abut the outer ends of the springs (52). The biasing members (54) are respectively and oppositely mounted around the shaft beside the FPD connectors (53). The fasteners (55) respectively fasten onto the ends of the shaft to hold the biasing members (54) securely between the fasteners (55) and the FPD connectors (53).
An FPD is attached to the FPD connectors (53) of the hinge (50) to allow the FPD to rotate relative to the FPD support (60) and to adjust an angle of the FPD.
However, the conventional FPD support (60) is formed in one piece so the arm (62) and base (61) have fixed positions and relative sizes. Therefore, the base (61) of the conventional FPD support (60) is usually small for the convenience of storage and packaging. Consequently, when the FPD is attached to the conventional hinge (50), the conventional FPD support (60) might topple over and cause damages to the FPD.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a FPD supporter with a hinge assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the present invention is to provide a flat panel display (FPD) support with a hinge assembly that has a base, a support and a hinge assembly.
The support has a base bracket being securely mounted on the base, an arm protruding from a front edge of the base bracket and a panel bracket protruding from an upper edge of the arm. The hinge assembly is mounted onto the panel bracket and is attached to a FPD.
Therefore, the base can be customized to allow the FPD and the support to stably stand on the base. Moreover, the support and the base may be disassembled and folded conveniently.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
With further reference to
The stand (10) is securely mounted on the base (30), is substantially Z-shaped and has a base bracket (11), an arm (13), a panel bracket (12) and two optional covers (14).
With further reference to
The arm (13) is formed on and protrudes obliquely from the front edge of the base bracket (11), may be V-shaped in cross-section to allow the stand (10) to sustain more weight and has an upper edge.
With further reference to
The covers (14) are mounted respectively and securely on the top of the base bracket (11) of the stand (10) to store wires between the covers (14) and the base bracket (11) of the stand (10).
With further reference to
The shaft (21) is mounted through the mounting tubes (121) of the panel bracket (12) of the stand (10), may be mounted through the guiding tube (123) of the panel bracket (12) and has two ends and two mounting rods (211). The mounting rods (211) are respectively formed on and protrude coaxially from the ends of the shaft (21), are non-circular in cross-section and protrude out of the outer ends of the mounting tubes (121). Each mounting rod (211) has a distal end.
The FPD connectors (22) are respectively and rotatably mounted around the mounting rods (211) of the shaft (21), respectively abut the outer ends of the mounting tubes (121), are attached to the FPD (40) and each FPD connector (22) has a positioning wing (221), a guide slot (225), a connecting wing (222) and an abutting wing (223). The positioning wing (221) is mounted around the mounting rod (211) of the shaft (21), abuts the outer end of the mounting tube (121) and has a front edge, a bottom edge, two surfaces and a pivot hole (224). The pivot hole (224) is formed through the positioning wing (221) and is rotatably mounted around the mounting rod (211) of the shaft (21). The guide slot (225) is formed through the FPD connector (22), may be formed through the positioning wing (221) near the pivot hole (224), corresponds to and is mounted slidably around the sliding protrusion (122) of the mounting tube (121) to limit the rotating angle of the FPD (40). The connecting wing (222) is formed on and protrudes transversely from the front edge of the positioning wing (221) and is attached to the FPD (40). The abutting wing (223) is formed on and protrudes from the bottom edge of the positioning wing (221).
The at least one spring (23) is mounted around the shaft (21) and is mounted between the mounting tubes (121). Each one of the at least one spring (23) may be mounted between the guiding tube (123) and one of the mounting tube (121) and has an inner end, an outer end and an optional clip (231). The inner end of the spring (23) is fastened to the panel bracket (12) of the stand (10). The outer end of the spring (23) abuts one of the FPD connector (22), may abut the abutting wing (223) of the FPD connector (22). The clip (231) is mounted securely on the outer end of the spring (23) clamps the abutting wing (223) of the FPD connector (22) to allow the rotation of the FPD connectors (22) relative to the shaft (21) while maintaining stability and reducing frictional noise of the abutting wing (223) and the spring (23).
The at least one sleeve (26) is mounted around the shaft (21) and each one of the at least one sleeve (26) is mounted in the corresponding spring (23) to avoid the friction between the spring (23) and the shaft (21).
The washer assemblies (24) are respectively mounted securely around the mounting rods (211) of the shaft (21) adjacent to the surfaces of each positioning wing (221) of the FPD connector (22).
The fasteners (25) are respectively mounted on the distal ends of the mounting rods (211) of the shaft (21) to hold the FPD connectors (22) and the washer assemblies (24) between the mounting tubes (121) and the fasteners (25).
The FPD support with a hinge assembly as described has the following advantages. Since the base bracket (11) of the stand (10) is securely mounted onto the base (30) and the FPD (40) is attached to the FPD connectors (22) of the hinge assembly (20), the base (30) can be adapted to different sizes easily to allow the FPD (40) and the stand (10) to stably stand on the base (30). Moreover, the stand (10) and the base (30) may be disassembled and folded conveniently for storage and packaging.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
