Patent Application
20080099637
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a supporting device, and in particular to a stepless adjustable supporting device capable of supporting an article such as displayer and adjusting the supporting length thereof.
2. Description of Prior Art
Generally, the displayer of a current information product is supported by a supporting device and fixed onto a table, ceiling plate, wall or other suitable positions for fixation. The supporting device is generally formed of a fixed structure and thus cannot adjust its length. As a result, the height of the supported displayer is also fixed and thus cannot be adjusted to conform to the different demands of individual users. Therefore, it has poor adaptability and practicability.
Taiwan Patent Publication No. M294002 entitled “Supporting device for a displaying screen” discloses a supporting device, by which the position of the displayer to be mounted can be ascended or descended. The patent document employs a sliding frame of the supporting device to bear the weight of the displayer and the sliding frame can slide relative to a fixed frame of the supporting device. Further, it employs a constant force spring to support the displayer in position. However, the construction and technology disclosed in the above patent document are so complicated. Besides, with only one constant force spring, it is difficult to support the displayer and achieve the stepless adjustment and positioning effect. As a result, the practicability of such product is poor.
In view of the above, the inventor proposes the present invention to overcome the above problems based on his expert experiences and deliberate researches.
The present invention is to provide a stepless adjustable supporting device, which employs the lever principle that the product of the load force and the load force arm is equal to the product of the applied force and the applied force arm together with a transmission wheel configured to have an eccentric groove. With the above arrangement, the applied torque is kept to be equal to the load torque, and the height of the supporting device can be adjusted in a stepless manner. Therefore, the whole structure can be further simplified.
The present invention is to provide a stepless adjustable supporting device, which comprises: a base having an accommodating space therein, an opening formed on the top of the accommodating space; a lifting arm comprising a first arm body fixed within the accommodating space and a second arm body slidably lifting on the first arm body, the second arm body extending from the opening; a transmission wheel assembly comprising a transmission wheel pivoted to the base and a driving piece operatively connected with the transmission wheel, the driving piece fixed on the second arm body, the lifting/lowering action of the second arm body driving the transmission wheel to rotate; and an elastic module comprising an elastic element and a swinging rod connected to one end of the elastic element, the other end of the elastic element positioned on the base, wherein the transmission wheel is provided with an eccentric groove thereon, the swinging rod has a swinging portion connected onto the eccentric groove, so that the swinging portion is movable on the eccentric groove when the transmission wheel rotates. With the above arrangement, the applied torque generated by the supported article with respect to the supporting device can be kept equal to the load torque generated by the supporting device, thereby to achieve a stepless adjustment of various lengths and a supporting effect.
In order to make the Examiner to better understand the characteristics and the technical contents of the present invention, a description relating thereto will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that the drawings are illustrative but not used to limit the scope of the present invention.
The base 1 can be mounted on a proper position or device and formed into a rectangular frame. The interior of the base 1 has an accommodating space 10 for accommodating the lifting arm 2, the transmission wheel assembly 3 and the elastic module 4. The accommodating space 10 is formed with an opening 100 on the top of the base 1 to allow the lifting arm 2 within the accommodating space 10 to extend therethrough, thereby to further fix a supported article such as displayer (not shown) to the upper end of the lifting arm 2. A fixing plate 11, 12 is respectively provided at the front and rear ends of the base 1 adjacent to the opening 100. The two fixing plates 11, 12 are provided with pivoting holes 110, 120 and displacing holes 111, 121 to allow the mounting of the transmission wheel 30 of the transmission wheel assembly 3 and a swinging rod 40 of the elastic module 4.
According to the above, the upper end of the lifting arm 2 is provided with a connecting head 20 for connecting with the supported article (such as displayer). The lower end of the lifting arm 2 is accommodated into the base 1 and fixed thereto, as described previously. In the present embodiment of the present invention, the lifting arm 2 has two elongated arm bodies opposing to each other, and comprises a first arm body 21 and a second arm body 22 slidably connected to each other. The first arm body 21 is fixed to the inside of the accommodating space 10 of the base 1. The inside of the first arm body 21 is formed with a vertically oriented sliding trough 210 for slidably disposing on the second arm body 22. With the above arrangement, the second arm body 22 can be lifted and lowered with the guidance of the sliding trough 210.
The transmission wheel assembly 3 comprises a transmission wheel 30 and a driving piece 31 operatively connected to the transmission wheel 30. The center of the transmission wheel 30 is provided with a pivoting shaft 300 protruding outwardly from both surfaces of the wheel 30 so as to be pivoted on the pivoting holes 110, 120 of the two fixing plates 11, 12. Further, the transmission wheel 30 is provided with an eccentric groove 301 thereon. In the present embodiment, the transmission wheel 30 is a gear, and the driving piece is a rack engaged with the gear. The driving piece 31 is fixed to the inside of the second arm body 22 of the lifting arm 2. Therefore, the lifting or lowering operation of the second arm body 22 can also cause the rotation of the transmission wheel 30.
The elastic module 4 comprises an elastic element 40, a swinging rod 41 connected to one end of the elastic element 40, and a fixing piece 42 for positioning the other end of the elastic element 40 onto the base 1. The swinging rod 41 has a swinging portion 410. A shaft rod 411 penetrates through the swinging portion 410 and the eccentric groove 301 of the transmission wheel 30, so that the swinging portion 410 can displace on the eccentric groove 301 via the shaft rod 411. Both ends of the shaft rod 411 penetrate trough the displacing holes 111, 121 of the two fixing plates 11, 12 and thus protrude from the two fixing plates 11, 12 of the base 1. Further, the fixing piece 42 is constituted of a connecting sleeve 420 and a supporting rod 421 connected onto the connecting sleeve 420. The outer periphery of the connecting sleeve 420 is provided with propeller-like side wings 422. The connecting sleeve can be inserted into the other end of the elastic element and screwed into the coils of the spring. The supporting rod 421 penetrates through the bottom surface of the base 1 and then into the connecting sleeve 420. In this way, the above components can be integrally combined with each other. Further, the elastic element 40 may be a tension spring.
Therefore, with the above structure, the stepless adjustable supporting device of the present invention can be achieved.
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According to the above, the present invention indeed achieves the desired effects and solves the drawbacks of prior art. Further, the present invention involves the novelty and inventive steps and conforms to the requirements for an invention patent.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various equivalent variations and modifications can still be occurred to those skilled in this art in view of the teachings of the present invention. Thus, all such variations and equivalent modifications are also embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
