FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus to mount and hold objects of different shapes and sizes. In particular, the invention relates to an adjustable apparatus for securing dispensers of items on surfaces, such as walls, edges of shelves or other flat surfaces, in a way that allows the dispensers to be rotated to a desired position.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In scientific and medical fields, scientists, researchers, technicians, doctors, other care providers and other persons employ a wide variety of items while conducting varied tasks from sample acquisition to lab experiments to surgery. For example, this involves the use of disposable items, such as facial tissues, latex gloves, laboratory single-use spatulas, laboratory wipes, and other laboratory or clinical items. Specialized fields would use items particular to that field. Such disposable items are packaged in dispensing boxes or containers. For example, disposable gloves are used in large numbers by many people and are generally supplied in light weight cardboard dispensing boxes instead of as individual sterile packages. In another example, reusable, single use items may be cleaned and re-placed into a dispensing container.
Because there is a myriad of such single use or disposable items in laboratories and hospital rooms, dispensing boxes can often be misplaced when they are moved around while being used by multiple users. Moreover, the efficient use of table top and counter space is a primary concern for those who work in tight quarters such as labs or hospital rooms, which makes organization of a tabletop surface area, a laboratory bench, or in a medical examination room a necessity. To solve these problems, dispensing boxes or containers are typically mounted on walls or cabinetry to conserve table or bench top space, prevent the misplacement of the dispensing box, and anchor the dispensing box to a surface to allow the user to more easily remove the dispensed items, such as the last few disposable gloves or facial tissues.
However, the myriad of disposable or single use or limited use items come in boxes or containers of different shapes and sizes. While some surface-mounting holding devices are useful for holding objects or boxes of a fixed dimension, there is lacking a surface-mounting device that fits universally for different sizes and shapes of objects. Consequently, it is often necessary to purchase many different holding devices to accommodate many different kinds of boxes or containers holding the dispensable items. For example, a user might purchase one holding device for a rectangular box of latex gloves and a different holding device for a square box of laboratory wipes. Thus, there is a need for a universal device that can be adjusted to accommodate dispensing boxes or containers of different shapes and sizes.
In addition, disposable items not only come in dispensing boxes and containers of different shapes and sizes, the different kinds of disposable items are also dispensed differently, thus requiring the dispensing boxes or containers to be mounted in different orientations. Thus, there is also a need for a universal holding device that can be rotated to orient a dispensing box or container in different positions as desired. Moreover, dispensing boxes are typically made of lightweight paperboard which is subject to easy crushing by compression. While there are surface-mounting devices that hold boxes of disposable items, such devices do not enable a dispensing box or container to be securely placed on the device and rotated to various positions such that the orientation of the object can be changed.
In addition to the myriad of disposable or single use or limited use items that might benefit from a surface-mounting holding device, there are many objects in these specialized fields that consume tabletop space that one working in these specialized fields would prefer to keep in a secure position off the tabletop to prevent damage to the object. Thus, there is a need for a universal device that can be adjusted to accommodate a wide variety of objects.
It is an object of the invention to provide a surface-mounting device to rigidly hold any object securely without crushing the object, in particular, dispensing boxes or containers so that the box or container is not pulled out of the universal holding device while the user removes the items inside the box and not crushed as the box or container is emptied.
It is an object of the invention to provide a surface-mounting universal holding device that can accommodate objects of different shapes and sizes, such as dispensing boxes or containers, or any compatibly sized object that a user might wish to have held by the device.
It is an object of the invention to provide a surface-mounting device with a mounting mechanism that allows the dispensing boxes or containers or objects to be rotated to and then held in a different position from the previous position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the objectives of the invention, the embodiments of the present invention relate to a surface-mounting holding device. A surface-mounting holding device is to be understood as any device capable of holding objects while mounted on a flat surface, such as, but not limited to, a wall, shelf edge, side of a cabinet or hood or other structure or other sufficiently sized flat horizontal or vertical surface to receive the surface-mounting holding device. The surface-mounting holding device according to the present invention has a mounting assembly that allows the object secured on the holding device to be rotated to at least a second position from a first position on the flat surface without removing the object being held or remounting the mounting assembly.
According to the present invention, the surface-mounting holding device has a holding assembly and a mounting assembly. The holding assembly is attached to the mounting assembly that enables it to be attached to a flat surface. The holding assembly is adjustable such that it is capable of securing objects of different sizes. The mounting assembly is rotationally adjustable such that the holding assembly can be rotated to different orientations to suit the object that is secured in the holding assembly.
The mounting assembly is comprised of a mounting foot that is attached to the back of the holding assembly. The mounting foot couples with a mounting shoe that is capable of being attached to a flat surface, such as a wall. The mounting shoe can be a bracket of any shape or a semi-circular shaped rack.
In a preferred embodiment, the mounting shoe is further comprised of at least one tab or an equivalent structure. The mounting foot includes a plurality of teeth separated by spaces. In this embodiment, the tab of the mounting shoe engages with the space between the teeth of the mounting foot in order to orient and hold the holding assembly in the first position. When the user disengages the tooth space between the teeth of the mounting foot from the tab to an unengaged position, the user can rotate the holding assembly and reengage the tab within a different tooth space on the mounting foot to position and secure the holding assembly in the second position.
In another embodiment, the mounting assembly has a guiding recess on the mounting foot and a locking nub on the mounting shoe. When the mounting foot is coupled with the mounting shoe, the mounting foot slides into the mounting shoe and the locking nub slides into the guiding recess. In a preferred embodiment, the size of the guiding recess determines the freedom of the movement of the mounting shoe within the mounting foot. When the mounting foot is in the unengaged position, the locking nub limits the movement of the mounting foot such that the holding assembly is rotatable while remaining securely coupled in the mounting shoe.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be more fully understood and appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the current embodiments and the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a surface-mounting holding device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the surface-mounting holding device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the surface-mounting holding device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the surface-mounting holding device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, showing the holding assembly is extendable.
FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the surface-mounting holding device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, having a box secured in the holding assembly.
FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the surface-mounting holding device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, having a container secured in the holding assembly.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the surface-mounting holding device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, having an access hole on the base plate.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a mounting shoe in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a mounting assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating cross sections of FIG. 9A to 9D, and FIG. 10A to 10E.
FIG. 8A is a perspective view of the surface-mounting holding device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, showing a rectangular box secured on the holding device in a vertical position.
FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the surface-mounting holding device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, showing the holding assembly rotated by 90° and the rectangular box held in a horizontal position.
FIG. 9A to FIG. 9D are illustrative internal views of the mounting assembly of the surface-mounting holding device to a different mounting position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10A to FIG. 10E are illustrative internal views of the mounting assembly of the surface-mounting holding device having various mounting positions in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
The invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a surface-mounting holding device 1 according to an embodiment of the invention is comprised of a holding assembly 10 and a mounting assembly 20. The holding assembly 10 is comprised of a base plate 100 and a cover plate 200. The base plate 100 has a front side 110 and a backside 108. The cover plate 200 is adjustably attachable to the front side 110 of the base plate 100 such that the holding assembly 10 can be extended to secure objects of different shapes and sizes.
The holding assembly 10 can be movably secured to a wall or other flat surface with the mounting assembly 20. The mounting assembly 20 is comprised of a mounting foot 40 and a mounting shoe 30. The mounting foot 40 is attached to the backside 108 of the base plate 100, as shown in FIG. 1A. The mounting foot 40 is movably and removably attachable to the mounting shoe 30. The mounting shoe 30, can be secured to a wall or other flat surface. When the mounting foot 40 is coupled with the mounting shoe 30, the mounting assembly 20 permits the holding assembly 10 to be rotated and moved as further described below.
In a preferred embodiment as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2 and 3, the base plate 100 is defined by four edges 112, 114, 116 and 118. In one embodiment, the base plate 100 has rail-receiving cavities 113 on the front side 110, running parallel to either edge 112 or 114 or both of the edges of the base plate 100. The cover plate 200 has a front side 212 and a backside (not shown). The cover plate 200 is defined by four edges 202, 204, 206 and 208, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In one embodiment, the back side (not shown) of the cover plate 200 has protruding guide rails (not shown) running parallel to the backside (not shown) edges 202, 204 of the cover plate 200. The protruding guide rails (not shown) are positioned to slide inside the rail-receiving cavities 113 on the base plate 100, aligning the cover plate 200 to the base plate 100 and allowing the base plates 100 and the cover plate 200 to move together and apart along said rails.
In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cover plate 200 has securing member 210 protruding from front side 212 along the edge 208, and the base plate 100 has securing member 104 protruding from front side 110 of along the edge 116. In one embodiment, the securing members 104 and 210 are comprised of silicone rubber or similar elastomer material. As shown in FIG. 3, the cover plate 200 and the base plate 100 are extendable so as to be able to accommodate wider objects.
In a preferred embodiment, the cover plate 200 has an opening cavity 222 on the edge 208. The cavity 222 allows a user to place a finger in the cavity 222 and single-handedly extend the cover plate 200 along the rail-receiving cavities 113 of the base plate 100, widening the opening between the securing members 104 and 210 to accommodate the removal or placement of a box or container. The distance apart that the edges 116 and 208 are able to travel is regulated by the tensile strength of a pair of spring-loaded members 105 and the engagement of capture tabs 220 and locking edges 134 as described below.
As shown in FIG. 2, in a preferred embodiment, the cover plate 200 and the base plate 100 are maintained in the default position representing the narrowest width of an object that can be held by the holding assembly 10 by a pair of spring-loaded members 105 located on the backside 108 of the base plate 100 and the backside of the cover plate 200, as shown in FIG. 1B. The spring-loaded members 105 have two connecting points 130, 232. One connecting point 130 of the spring-loaded members 105 is attached to the backside 108 of the base plate 100, and the other connecting point 232 of the spring-loaded members 105 is attached to the backside of the cover plate 200 such that the cover plate 200 and the base plate 100 are drawn together by the spring-loaded members 105, as shown in FIG. 1B.
In one embodiment, the cover plate 200 has the capture tabs 220 on the two edges 202 and 204, and the base plate 100 has the locking pawls 134 on the two edges 112, 114, as shown in FIG. 1B. If a pull-out force is exerted on the cover plate 200 or the base plate 100, the locking pawls 134 bite into the capture tabs 220 and prevent the plates from being extended from one another any further, such that the extended distance between securing members 210 and 104 defines the maximum width of an object that can be held in this embodiment.
The extendable feature of the securing members 104 and 210 allow the holding assembly 10 to hold objects of different sizes, including but not limited to, boxes, containers, and mobile devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the holding assembly 10 can hold a square dispensing box on the wall or any flat surface. Or as shown in FIG. 4B, the holding assembly 10 can secure a rectangular container on the wall or any flat surface.
The holding assembly 10 is mounted to a wall or flat surface by the mounting assembly 20. Referring now to FIG. 1A, the mounting assembly 20 is comprised of a mounting foot 40 and a mounting shoe 30. The mounting foot 40 protrudes from the backside 108 of the base plate 100. In a preferred embodiment, the mounting foot 40 has a circular body 404 with a guiding recess 400 at its center and a plurality of teeth 402 extending radially outward.
The mounting shoe 30 is removably and adjustably attachable to the mounting foot 40. As shown in FIG. 6, in a preferred embodiment, the mounting shoe 30 has a shoe plate 300 with a hole or holes 302 such that screws can secure the mounting shoe 30 to a wall or other flat surface. The mounting shoe 30 can also be secured using 3M Command or similar tape attached behind the mounting shoe 30. The mounting shoe 30 has a locking nub 308 at its center that couples with the guiding recess 400 of the mounting foot 40 as shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 7, the mounting shoe 30 has brackets 306 that extend from the shoe plate 300 to form pockets 310 for capturing the teeth 402 of the mounting foot 40. The mounting shoe 30 has a tab 304 located between the brackets 306.
When the mounting foot 40 is inserted into the mounting shoe 30, the teeth 402 slide into the pockets 310 of the brackets 306 and the locking nub 308 couples with the guiding recess 400, such that the mounting foot 40 is secured within the brackets 306 and the mounting shoe 30. When the mounting foot 40 is in the coupled position in the brackets 306 and the teeth 402 are engaged with the tab 304, as seen in FIG. 7, the mounting foot 40 is in the engaged position 50 and cannot rotate. However, the mounting foot 40 may rotate with respect to the mounting shoe 30 when the teeth 402 are disengaged from the tab 304 as seen in FIG. 9B. In the unengaged position 60, as shown in FIGS. 9B and 9C, the mounting foot 40 can rotate freely within the brackets 306 with respect to the mounting shoe 30 because the tab 304 is not engaged with teeth 402. The mounting foot 40 will not be released from the mounting shoe 30 because the locking nub 308 is coupled with the guiding recess 400, which prevents the full release of the holding assembly 10 from the mounting assembly 20. In the engaged position 50, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9D, the tab 304 slides between the teeth 402 of the mounting foot 40 such that the tab 304 prevents the teeth 402 from rotating, thereby preventing the mounting foot 40 to rotate relative to the mounting shoe 30. In one embodiment, the guiding recess 400 can be a hole, a pocket, or any shape, for example, a circle or a square, so long as it is able to receive the locking nub 308 when the teeth 402 of the mounting foot 40 slides into the pockets 310 of the mounting shoe 30. In a preferred embodiment, when the mounting foot 40 slides into the brackets 306 of the mounting shoe 30, the outer edge of the circular body 404 or any surface of the teeth 402 that come into contact with the locking nub 308 depresses the locking nub 308, allowing the locking nub 308 to move into the guiding recess 400. Since the locking nub 308 can only move within the guiding recess 400 when the mounting foot 40 slides into the brackets 306, the size of the guiding recess 400 determines the maximum freedom of movement of the mounting foot 40. For example, because the locking nub 308 is secured within the guiding recess 400 to limit the movement of the mounting foot 40, the mounting foot 40 can only be guided to move up to the unengaged position 60, as shown in FIGS. 9 B and 9C. In this way, while remaining within the brackets 306, the teeth 402 do not touch the tab 304, allowing the mounting foot 40 to freely rotate on the mounting shoe 30. In one embodiment, the locking nub 308 can be centered or in any position relative to the inside of the guiding recess 400.
In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the base plate 100 has an access hole 111 that is open on both sides 110 and 108 of the base plate 100. The guiding recess 400 is overlapped with the access hole 111 when the mounting foot 40 is attached to the holding assembly 10 such that the locking nub 308 can be shown when the holding assembly 10 is secured on the mounting shoe 30. The access hole 111 provides an easy way for the user to remove the holding assembly 10 from the mounting shoe 30 by depressing the locking nub 308 sufficiently to allow the mounting foot 40 to freely uncouple with and slide out of the mounting shoe 30.
In one embodiment of the present invention, when the mounting foot 40 is moved into the mounting shoe 30 by sliding the teeth 402 into the brackets 306 of the mounting shoe 30, as shown in FIG. 7, the mounting foot 40 depresses the locking nub 308 such that the locking nub 308 moves into the guiding recess 400 of the mounting foot 40. As the locking nub 308 passes over the mounting foot 40, it retracts and then springs back into place once inside the guiding recess 400, making an audible sound, such as, but not limited to, a “clicking” noise. The audible sound informs the user that a locked connection has been made between the mounting shoe 30 and the mounting foot 40. With the locked connection between the mounting foot 40 and the mounting shoe 30, the user can be certain that the holding assembly 10 will remain secured to the flat surface during use and while rotating the mounting foot 40 within the mounting shoe 30. In addition, when the teeth 402 and the tab 304 are engaged the user can be certain that the holding assembly will not rotate. Thus, the user can be certain that the holding assembly 10 will remain mounted to the flat surface and immobile when the user removes a box, container or other object from the holding assembly 10.
Referring now to FIGS. 8A and 8B, the engagement of the mounting assembly 20 and the holding assembly 10 allows the surface-mounting holding device 1 to be rotatable on the flat surface such that a box, container, or other appropriately sized object can be oriented in different positions. For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, the holding assembly 10 holds a rectangular box in a vertical position; in FIG. 8B, the holding assembly 10 is rotated by 90° such that the rectangular box is placed in a horizontal position. As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the mounting shoe 30 can move between the engaged position 50 and the unengaged position 60 on the mounting shoe 30. When the mounting foot 40 is lifted within the mounting shoe 30 to the unengaged position 60, the holding assembly 10 is rotatable on the mounting shoe 30 such that the holding assembly 10 can move between a first position, as shown in FIG. 9A, and a second position, as shown in FIG. 9D.
Referring now to FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C and 9D, the mounting assembly 10 shows the engagement between the mounting foot 40 and the mounting shoe 30. The teeth 402 on the mounting foot 40 have openings with a complimentary shape to the tab 304 on the mounting shoe 30 such that the teeth 402 will engage with the tab 304 when the mounting foot 40 moves into the bracket 306. As shown in FIG. 9A, the teeth 402 are engaged with the tab 304 in the engaged position 50. In this way, the holding assembly 10 is affixed on the wall in the first position, as shown in FIG. 9A, by the engagement of the mounting foot 40 and the mounting shoe 30. In FIG. 9B, when the mounting foot 40 is lifted to the unengaged position 60, the teeth 402 are not engaged with the tab 304. The mounting foot 40 is rotatable within the pockets 310 of the brackets 306 in the unengaged position 60. In this way, as shown in FIG. 9C, the mounting foot 40 can be rotated by 45° such that the holding assembly 10 is moved to a different orientation. The mounting foot 40 then slides within the pockets 310 to the engaged position 50, reengaging with the tab 116 such that the holding assembly 10 is affixed to the wall in the second position, as shown in FIG. 9D.
As shown in FIG. 10A to 10E, the base plate 100 of the holding assembly 10 is mounted in various mounting positions as the teeth 402 are rotated within the brackets 306 of the mounting shoe 30. In a preferred embodiment, sizes and quantity of the teeth 402 determine the numbers of mounting positions of the holding assembly 10 between 0° to 180°. When the mounting foot 40 includes more teeth 402 such that the size of each tooth 402 is smaller and the space between the teeth is also accordingly smaller and the tab 304 is accordingly sized, the increments of rotational engagement between the teeth 402 and the tab 304 increase providing smaller increments of rotation for the holding assembly 10 relative to mounting shoe 30. When the mounting foot 40 includes fewer number of the teeth 402 such that the size of each tooth is larger and the space between the teeth 402 is larger and the tab 304 is accordingly larger in size, there are fewer increments of rotation for the holding assembly 10 relative to the mounting shoe 30.
Unless otherwise stated, all measurements, values, ratings, positions, magnitudes, sizes, and other specifications that are set forth in this specification, including in the claims that follow, are approximate, not exact. They are intended to have a reasonable range that is consistent with the functions to which they relate and with what is customary in the art to which they pertain and for the objects and containers that will be held in the device.
The foregoing description, which has been disclosed by way of the above discussion and the drawings, addresses embodiments of the present disclosure encompassing the principles of the present invention. The embodiments maybe changed, modified and/or implemented using various types of equipment and arrangements. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made to the described methods and equipment without strictly following the exemplary embodiments illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the scope of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the disclosed invention can optionally be made of any suitable known material, e.g., but not limited to plastic, polypropylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, one or more polymers or elastomers, metal, glass, Plexiglas, wood, steel, alloy, PTEE, ABS, or any combination of, and the like; furthermore the disclosed invention can optionally have edges or embodiments that can be rounded, curved, angled, concave, convex, raised, stepped, square, beveled, routed, etched, lined, engraved, and any combination thereof. The surface of the disclosed invention or any part thereof can optionally be painted, dyed, colored, clear, transparent, back painted or dyed, printed with a pattern or image or picture, or any combination thereof.
Patent Application
20190382162
