This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2017-011202, filed on Jan. 25, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
This invention relates to a support device for a portable terminal, which is configured to support a portable terminal under a state in which the portable terminal is inclined rearward.
As a portable terminal being one type of portable electronic devices, there is known, for example, a tablet-type point-of-sales (POS) terminal device to be used in a self-ordering system being one mode of POS systems. In many cases, the portable terminal of this type includes an input/output device (user interface) such as a touch panel type liquid crystal display.
Incidentally, when the portable terminal is used on a table, there may be used a support device configured to support the portable terminal under a state in which the portable terminal is inclined rearward. With this support device, the portable terminal can be supported while the touch panel type liquid crystal display or other input/output devices is oriented in a direction which enables a user to visually recognize a screen and perform a touch operation in an easy manner. The user uses the portable terminal placed on the support device by, for example, pressing the touch panel to perform input and visually recognizing processing results on the display screen.
Meanwhile, there has been given a portable terminal to which a hand belt configured to receive a user's hand is mounted. The hand belt is mounted to the portable terminal in order to prevent, for example, fall of the portable terminal when a user holds the portable terminal by hand to use the portable terminal.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2011-107991 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Literature 1), there is disclosed a support base. A portable terminal to which a hand belt configured to receive a hand is mounted is placed on the support base, and the support base charges the portable terminal.
The support base disclosed in Patent Literature 1 supports a back surface of the portable terminal with use of a rear wall surface of the support base, which has a height lower than a position of the hand belt, in order to avoid interference with the hand belt. Thus, there may be a risk in that, when the portable terminal is used while being placed on the support base, and a touch panel is pressed, the portable terminal wobbles or comes off from the support base to fall rearward. That is, the support base disclosed in Patent Literature 1 has room for improvement with regard to a supporting action for the portable terminal.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a support device for a portable terminal capable of reliably supporting a portable terminal even when a hand belt configured to receive a user's hand is mounted to a back surface of the portable terminal.
According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided a support device for a portable terminal, comprising a placement portion configured to place a portable terminal having a hand belt mounted to a back surface of the portable terminal and configured to receive a user's hand, the placement portion comprising a terminal placement surface configured to support the back surface of the portable terminal placed on the placement portion; and a belt-receiving recessed portion, which has a shape recessed with respect to the terminal placement surface in a direction perpendicular to the terminal placement surface, and is configured to receive the hand belt of the portable terminal placed on the placement portion, wherein the support device for a portable terminal is configured to support the portable terminal placed on the placement portion under a state in which the portable terminal is inclined rearward.
The above features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, among which:
Now, description is made of an embodiment of this invention. In the embodiment described below, as a portable terminal, there is exemplified a tablet-type point-of-sales (POS) terminal device to be used in a self-ordering system being one mode of POS systems.
First, with reference to
The portable terminal 600 is of a tablet type, and includes a touch panel display 602 on a front surface of the portable terminal 600. A hand belt 671 configured to receive a user's hand is mounted to a back surface of the portable terminal 600. Further, at a lower end portion of the portable terminal 600, there are provided contacts 662 for charging and signal input/output, which are electrically connectable to contact pins 62 of the support device described later. The portable terminal 600 is placed on the support device for a portable terminal to which other devices (for example, a printer and a display portion for a customer) and an alternating current (AC) adapter are connected, to thereby function as a POS terminal device.
Next, with reference to
With reference to
The placement portion 10 has, on a front surface 10f thereof, a terminal placement surface 110 and a belt-receiving recessed portion 116. The terminal placement surface 110 is configured to support the back surface of the portable terminal 600 placed on the placement portion 10. The belt-receiving recessed portion 116 has a shape recessed with respect to the terminal placement surface 110, and is configured to receive the hand belt 671 of the portable terminal 600 placed on the placement portion 10.
The belt-receiving recessed portion 116 extends along the width direction of the placement portion 10 so as to correspond to the portable terminal 600 with the hand belt 671 extending in the width direction of the portable terminal.
The terminal placement surface 110 has a first placement surface 111 and a second placement surface 112, which are aligned in an up-and-down direction of the placement portion 10 across the belt-receiving recessed portion 116. The first placement surface 111 is positioned on a lower side of the belt-receiving recessed portion 116, and the second placement surface 112 is positioned on an upper side the belt-receiving recessed portion 116. The first placement surface 11 and the second placement surface 112 have a relationship of being flush with each other when the first placement surface 111 and the second placement surface 112 are not divided by the belt-receiving recessed portion 116.
A shape of the belt-receiving recessed portion 116 in plan view which is viewed from a direction perpendicular to the terminal placement surface 110 is formed so that the belt-receiving recessed portion 116 is gradually widened as being away from both ends of the belt-receiving recessed portion 116 in an extending direction of the belt-receiving recessed portion 116, that is, in the width direction of the placement portion 10.
Further, a cross-sectional shape of the belt-receiving recessed portion 116 along a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the belt-receiving recessed portion 116, that is, along a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the placement portion 10 is formed into a curved shape protruding rearward in a depth direction D of the placement portion 10. In this example, the belt-receiving recessed portion 116 has a depth gradually increased as being away from both ends of the belt-receiving recessed portion 116 in the extending direction of the belt-receiving recessed portion 116, that is, in the width direction of the placement portion 10. A depth of recessed surfaces at end portions of side surfaces of the placement portion 10 is ensured to be larger than a thickness of the hand belt 671.
Further, the belt-receiving recessed portion 116 extends over an entire width of the placement portion 10, and has a width slightly larger than a width of the hand belt 671 at both ends in the extending direction of the belt-receiving recessed portion 116, that is, in the width direction of the placement portion 10.
The placement portion 10 has a structure so as to correspond to the portable terminal 600 with the hand belt 671 to which the pad 672 is mounted so as to surround the hand belt 671. That is, the placement portion 10 further includes a pad-receiving opening portion 117 serving as a pad-receiving recessed portion. The pad-receiving opening portion 117 has a shape of being further recessed in the belt-receiving recessed portion 116, and is configured to receive the pad of the hand belt of the portable terminal 600 placed on the placement portion 10. In this example, the pad-receiving opening portion 117 has a through-hole shape penetrating through the placement portion 10. The pad-receiving opening portion 117 has an opening area large enough for the pad 672 of the hand belt 671 to pass through the pad-receiving opening portion 117. In this invention, the pad-receiving recessed portion may be a bottomed recessed portion instead of a recessed portion having a through-hole shape as in this example.
The placement portion 10 further includes a pad-supporting wall portion 118. The pad-supporting wall portion 118 extends rearward of the placement portion 10 from a lower side portion of the pad-receiving opening portion 117, and is configured to support the pad 672 of the portable terminal 600 placed on the placement portion 10. As illustrated in
The placement portion 10 further includes a terminal receiving portion 102. The terminal receiving portion 102 is provided on a lower side of the front surface 10f of the placement portion 10. The terminal receiving portion 102 has a pocket shape, and is configured to receive and support the lower end portion of the portable terminal 600 placed on the placement portion 10. As illustrated in
With reference to
Further, the placement portion 10 includes a placed-object holding portion 103, an openable and closable holding claw 104, and a rear cover 105 (
With reference to
With reference to
Referring back to
As illustrated in
The support device is configured to support the portable terminal 600 placed on the placement portion 10 with lower ends 10L of the placement portion 10 and distal ends 20D of the pair of support leg portions 20 under a state in which the portable terminal 600 is inclined rearward in the depth direction D. Particularly, in accordance with which ones of the plurality of receiving seats 201 of the pair of support leg portions 20 receive the anchor portions 301 of the pair of brace portions 30, an angle of the pair of support leg portions 20 with respect to the placement portion 10 is changeable so that an inclination angle of the portable terminal 600 placed on the placement portion 10 is changeable.
In the support device, after the pair of brace portions 30 is removed from the pair of support leg portions 20, the pair of support leg portions 20 and the pair of brace portions 30 are folded in parallel to the rear surface 10r of the placement portion 10. Accordingly, the portable terminal 600 placed on the placement portion 10 can be set on a table (not shown) in a lying posture. The portable terminal 600 can also be placed on the placement portion 10, which is set hanging on a wall (not shown).
Next, with reference to
As illustrated in
Then, as illustrated in
Under a state illustrated in
With reference to
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Further, the portable terminal 600 is placed on the related-art support device through intermediation of the hand belt 671, which includes the pad 672 and can be adjusted in length. Thus, a gap between the back surface of the portable terminal 600 and the placement surface 710 is not constant. When the support device includes the contact pins for communication with other devices through cables or for charging, there is required a structure configured to set a constant gap between the back surface of the portable terminal 600 and the placement surface 710. In contrast, the support device for a portable terminal according to this invention does not require the structure configured to set a constant gap between the back surface of the portable terminal 600 and the placement surface 710.
Further, the portable terminal 600 is placed on the related-art support device through intermediation of the hand belt 671, which includes the pad 672 and can be adjusted in length, and hence there is a risk in that an operation screen is inclined at the time of operation of the portable terminal 600 thus placed. Accordingly, a structure configured to prevent the operation screen from being inclined is required. In contrast, the support device for a portable terminal according to this invention does not require the structure configured to prevent the operation screen of the portable terminal 600 thus placed from being inclined.
This invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.
For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the support device for a portable terminal includes the support portion, which includes a combination of the brace portions and the support leg portions and can be changed in support angle for the placement portion. However, the support device may include a support portion fixed in a predetermined angle.
Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the support device for a portable terminal includes the contact pins for connection to the contacts of the portable terminal so that the portable terminal thus placed is allowed to perform communication with other devices through cables and is charged. However, the support device for a portable terminal may allow only the communication with other devices, or may only be charged. Alternatively, the support device for a portable terminal may not include the contact pins for connection with the contacts of the portable terminal, and may not allow communication with other devices through cables and may not allow charging. For example, the portable terminal may solely be used, or may include a wireless unit to perform wireless communication with other devices.
Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the support device for a portable terminal has the belt-receiving recessed portion having the pad-receiving opening portion. Instead of such structure, there may be provided, over the entire width of the placement portion, a groove portion which has a U-shaped cross section and can receive the hand belt including the pad without interfering with abutment of the back surface of the portable terminal against the first placement surface and the second placement surface.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2017-011202 | Jan 2017 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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9287917 | Tages | Mar 2016 | B1 |
20110205696 | Kawada | Aug 2011 | A1 |
20120243152 | Kawada | Sep 2012 | A1 |
20120257342 | Shindo | Oct 2012 | A1 |
20140054910 | Kim | Feb 2014 | A1 |
20140226292 | Mochizuki | Aug 2014 | A1 |
20150304466 | Tamatsu | Oct 2015 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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2011-107991 | Jun 2011 | JP |
2012-226733 | Nov 2012 | JP |
Entry |
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Windows-based business-purpose tablet-type POS “Twinpos S” adaptable to a variety of shop scenes, Japan, NEC Platforms, Oct. 2016, 2 pages. |
JPO Office Action for Application No. 2017-011202 dated Mar. 22, 2017. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20180212638 A1 | Jul 2018 | US |