Switching and retaining device for use in cellular phones and peripheral communication equipment thereof

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6816713
  • Patent Number
    6,816,713
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, April 4, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, November 9, 2004
    19 years ago
Abstract
A switching and retaining device applied to cellular phones and their peripheral communication equipment is provided. More particularly, it relates to a switching and retaining device that is coupled to a cellular phone and its peripheral equipment and can carry out telecommunication automatically between the cellular phone and its peripheral equipment. It is made up of a base mount with a retaining mount secured thereto and having a holding arm controlled to slidably extend and retract by way of a control unit. There is an input terminal, an output terminal and a power terminal that are placed on the base mount and are coupled to the peripheral equipment of a cellular phone and a power source by conduction wires. On the retaining mount is disposed a receiving cavity for accommodation of a cellular phone.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a switching and retaining device applied to cellular phones and their peripheral communication equipment and more particularly relates to a switching and retaining device that is coupled to a cellular phone and its peripheral equipment and can carry out telecommunication automatically between the cellular phone and its peripheral equipment. The present invention is basically made up of a base mount with a retaining mount secured thereto. The retaining mount is equipped with a holding arm that is controlled to slidably extend and retract by way of a control unit. Inside the base mount is disposed a circuit set; and an input terminal, an output terminal and a power terminal are placed on the base mount and are coupled to the peripheral equipment of a cellular phone and a power source by conduction wires. On the retaining mount is disposed a receiving cavity for accommodation of a cellular phone with a signal plug and power socket positioned thereon for connection to the cellular phone and its peripheral equipment. Those plug and socket are connected to the circuit set of the base mount. A control button is disposed on the retaining mount to control the extension and retraction of the holding arm. Thereby, a cellular phone can be readily housed in the receiving cavity of the retaining mount and incoming calls of the cellular phone can be switched automatically to its peripheral equipment, protecting people from long time exposure to electromagnetic wave of a cellular phone when a person is inside a room.




Cellular phone has become an indispensable communication tool to most people living in modern cities. However, electromagnetic waves generated by cellular phones have bad effect on people's health. It makes users of cellular phones worried when they enjoy the facilities of cellular phones every moment. People are used to keeping their cellular phones in a stand-by mode even when they are at home or in office or in a vehicle so that they will not miss any important phone calls. In that case, people are reluctantly forced to use cellular phones in a long period of time everyday. It may be detrimental to people's health.




To solve such a problem, the present inventor comes up with a switching and retaining device for cellular phones and their peripheral communication equipment. Such a switching and retaining device can carry out telecommunication automatically between the cellular phone and its peripheral equipment when incoming calls of a cellular phone positioned in a receiving cavity of the mount are transmitted to the cellular phone. Thereby people can be better protected from close exposure to electromagnetic waves of cellular phones constantly.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a switching and retaining device which is mainly used to hold a cellular phone in place and automatically switches incoming calls to the peripheral equipment of the cellular phone when a user of the cellular phone stays inside a room or in a vehicle.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective diagram showing the exploded components of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a perspective diagram showing the assembly of the switching and retaining mount of the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a diagram showing the placement of a cellular phone on the mount in practical application;





FIG. 4

is a diagram showing the systematic connection of the present invention;





FIG. 5

is a diagram showing the operation mode of the present invention;





FIG. 5A

is sectional diagram showing the operation mode of the button in

FIG. 5

;





FIG. 6

is a diagram showing another operation mode thereof;





FIG. 6A

is a diagram showing another operation mode of the button in

FIG. 6

;





FIG. 7

is a perspective diagram showing the separated parts of a second embodiment;





FIG. 8

is a diagram showing the assembly of the second embodiment;





FIG. 9

is a partially sectional diagram showing the detailed structure of the first embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 10

is a diagram showing the present invention coupled to a hand free device;





FIG. 11

is a perspective diagram showing the present invention directly served as a hand free device.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to the drawings ranging from

FIG. 1

to

FIG. 6

, the present invention relating to a switching and retaining device for use in a cellular phone and its peripheral equipment is mainly made up of a base mount


10


, a retaining mount


20


disposed above the base mount


10


, a holding arm


35


disposed on the retaining mount and controlled by the control unit


30


.




The base mount


10


is provided with a slantly extended receiving cavity


11


for housing an electric circuit which is not shown and described in details because it is a commonly seen circuit with a charging circuitry or a hand-free device circuitry. In the receiving cavity


11


are disposed a plurality of tubular positioning rods


12


so as to permit the base mount


10


to be locked into engagement with the retaining mount


20


in assembly by way of screws


121


. On the base mount


10


are disposed, a power socket C, an input terminal


13


, an output terminal


14


and a power terminal


15


that are coupled to communication devices of a cellular phone's peripheral equipment, such as wired telephone T


2


, a hand free device and etc., by means of conduction wires L


1


, L


2


, L


3


respectively.




The retaining mount


20


has a housing recess


21


for accommodation of a cellular phone T


1


. In the housing recess


21


are disposed a signal plug


22


power socket


23


for connection to a cellular phone, that are electrically connected to the circuit (not shown) positioned in the base mount


10


. At the other half of the retaining mount


20


is defined a platform


24


having an opening


241


at its front lateral side and a through hole


242


at one longitudinal side thereof. A spring receiving room


241


is disposed under the retaining mount


20


, an axle hole


244


, a positioning axle hole


245


and a slide track


246


, as shown in

FIG. 5

, for accommodation of the parts of the control unit


30


. In correspondence to the tubular positioning rods


12


of the base mount


10


are disposed under the retaining mount


20


a plurality of poles


25


that are engaged with the tubular positioning rods


12


by way of screws


121


for locking purpose.




The control unit


30


is made up of a button


31


, a spring


32


, a link bar


33


, a gear set


34


, a holding arm


35


and a bottom cover


36


.




The button


31


is placed in the through hole


242


of the retaining mount


20


and has a bias spring


311


engaged therewith; and at one side of the button


31


is also provided with an abutment wing


312


.




A spring


32


is housed in a receiving cavity


243


of the retaining mount


20


. The link bar


33


has a bar embodiment


331


for insertion into the axle hole


244


of the retaining mount


20


; and at one end thereof is equipped with a rod protrusion


332


for engagement of the spring


32


; and at the opposite end is placed a retaining flange


333


.




The gear set


34


engaged with a positioning hole


245


of the retaining mount


20


is made up of an upper gear


341


and a lower gear


342


; the former is engaged with the retaining flange


333


of the link bar


33


, and the latter is in operational engagement with a rack teeth


353


of the holding arm


35


.




The holding arm


35


having an arm embodiment


352


is equipped with a vertical holding board


351


at one end thereof which sticks externally out of the through hole


241


of the retaining mount


20


. The line of rack teeth


353


is disposed at one side of the arm embodiment


352


of the holding arm


35


. At the other end of the holding arm


35


is disposed a retaining tongue


354


which is associated with a spring element


355


. Next to the retaining tongue


354


and on the holding arm is disposed a stop projection


356


. The bottom cover


36


is removably secured to the bottom of the retaining mount


20


.




Thereby, a user can place a cellular phone T


1


in the housing recess


21


of the retaining mount


20


when he or she stays in an indoor space, an office, or is in a vehicle. In this situation, the signal socket and power socket of the cellular phone T


1


are engaged with the signal plug


22


and the power plug


23


of the housing recess


21


. In such a manner, incoming calls of the cellular phone T


1


can be received via the peripheral equipment of the cellular phone, such as a wired telephone T


2


, resulting in reduction of direct exposure of a user to electric-magnetic waves of the cellular phone, as shown in FIG.


4


.




Referring to

FIGS. 1-5

, as the cellular phone T


1


is placed in the housing recess


21


, the button


31


is pressed to move downwardly with its abutment wing


312


moving against the link bar


33


. Consequently, the retaining flange


333


is urged to withdraw backward out of engagement with the upper gear


341


of the gear set


34


. As a result of the exertion of the force of the spring,


355


, the holding arm


35


pops out and is limited not to depart from the retaining mount


20


by the stop projection


356


. In a reverse manner, as the cellular phone T


1


is to be secured in place in the housing recess


21


, the holding arm


35


only has to be pushed inwardly, causing the rack teeth


353


of the holding arm


35


to mesh with the lower gear


342


of the gear set


34


. Thus the arm embodiment


352


of the holding arm


35


is made to withdraw into the retaining mount


20


to allow a cellular phone T


1


to be right fit therein. The spring


355


is in a compressed state, as shown in FIG.


6


.




Referring to

FIGS. 7-9

, another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated wherein the retaining mount


40


is equipped with a removable seat


50


. The retaining mount


40


has a bottom supporting extension


401


, which is provided with a vertical groove track


41


at each side thereof. In correspondence to the groove tracks


41


are disposed a pair of retaining projections


51


of the rear sides of the removable seat


50


for locking purpose. A retractable hook


42


is disposed right between the groove tracks


41


for retaining engagement with a slot


52


defined at the rear side of the removable seat


50


. At the front side of the seat


50


is disposed a receiving recess


501


and at the bottom of the seat


50


is disposed a connector plug


53


which is in coupling engagement with a modular jack


43


defined on the bottom supporting extension


401


of the retaining mount


40


.




The removable seat


50


is designed to selectively match with individual cellular phones of various types produced by different manufacturers. Each cellular phone generally has a signal socket different from others. A user only has to select a proper type of removable seat


50


to match with his or her cellular phone. If a new cellular phone is purchased, only the removable seat


50


, not the whole retaining and transmission set, is replaced.




Referring to

FIG. 10

, a hand-free device T


3


of a cellular phone's peripheral equipment is in connection to the present invention wherein the retaining mount


20


of the present invention accommodates a cellular phone T


1


with a hand-free device T


3


connected to the switching and retaining device of the present invention by a conduction wire L


4


. Thereby incoming calls of a cellular phone can be directly transmitted to a peripheral equipment, such as a hand-free device T


3


, by way of the switching and retaining device of the present invention.




Referring to

FIG. 11

, in this embodiment, the present invention is directly employed as a hand-free device wherein a general circuitry for use in a hand-free device is included in the circuit set of the present invention. In that case, the retaining mount


60


is used as an embodiment of a hand-free device with a earphone socket hole,


601


, a microphone socket hole


602


disposed at one side thereof and a power socket


603


at the bottom thereof. Thereby the switching and retaining device of the present invention is converted into a hand-free device for a cellular phone T


1


.




In summary, the present invention can not only serve as a retaining means for a cellular phone but also permits incoming calls of a cellular phone to be received by a peripheral equipment of the cellular phone by connection of the cellular phone to the peripheral equipment thereof so as to protect people from being harmed and annoyed by electromagnetic wave.



Claims
  • 1. A switching and retaining device for use in a cellular phone and its peripheral equipment comprising:a base mount, a retaining mount disposed on top of said base mount, and a holding arm positioned on said retaining mount controlled by a control unit; wherein said base mount is provided with a receiving cavity for housing an electric circuit in which are disposed a plurality of tubular positioning rods; at one side of said base mount are disposed a power socket, an input terminal, an output terminal, and a power terminal that are coupled to communication devices of a cellular phone's peripheral equipment by means of conduction wires L1, L2, L3 respectively; said retaining mount has a housing recess for accommodation of a cellular phone; in said housing recess are disposed a signal plug, power socket for connection to a cellular phone that are electrically connected to said circuit positioned in said base mount; at the other half of said retaining mount is defined a platform having an opening at a front side and a through hole for accommodation of the parts of said control unit which can control said holding arm to extend or retract for retaining a cellular phone, at a half of said retaining mount is defined a platform having an opening at a front side and a through hole at one side thereof; a spring receiving room is disposed under said retaining mount, an axle hole, a positioning axle hole, and a slide track for accommodation of the parts of said control unit; whereby a cellular phone can be housed inside said housing recess of said retaining mount and incoming calls can automatically be transmitted to a peripheral equipment of said cellular phone by way of said switching and retaining device.
  • 2. The switching and retaining device for use in a cellular phone and its peripheral equipment as claims in claim 1 wherein said control unit is made up of a button, a spring, a link bar, a gear set, a holding arm, and a bottom cover;said button is placed in said through hole of said retaining mount and has a bias spring engaged therewith; and one side of said button is also provided with an abutment wing; a spring is housed in a receiving cavity of said retaining mount; a link bar has a bar embodiment for the insertion into an axle hole of said retaining mount and one end thereof is equipped with a rod protrusion for engagement of said spring and at an opposite end is also disposed a retaining flange; a gear set engaged with a positioning hole of said retaining mount is made up of an upper gear and a lower gear; the former is engaged with said retaining flange of said link bar and the latter is in operational engagement with a rack teeth of said holding arm; said holding arm having an arm embodiment equipped with a vertical holding board at one end thereof which sticks externally out of said through hole of said retaining mount; a line of rack teeth is disposed at one side of said arm embodiment of said holding arm; at the other end of said holding arm is disposed a retaining tongue which is associated with a spring element; next to said retaining tongue and on said holding arm is disposed a stop projection; a bottom cover is removably secured to the bottom of said retaining mount.
  • 3. The switching and retaining device for use in a cellular phone and its peripheral equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said retaining mount is equipped with a removable seat and has a bottom supporting extension which is provided with a vertical groove track at each side thereof; in correspondence to said groove tracks are disposed a pair of retaining projections of the rear sides of said removable seat for locking purpose; a retractable hook is disposed right between said groove tracks for retaining engagement with the a slot defined at the rear side of the removable seat; at the front side of said seat is disposed a receiving recess and at the bottom of said seat is disposed a connector plug which is in coupling engagement with a modular jack defined on said bottom supporting extension of said retaining mount.
  • 4. The switching and retaining device for use in a cellular phone and its peripheral equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said switching and retaining device is directly employed as a hand-free device and said retaining mount is used as an embodiment of a hand-free device with an earphone socket hole, a microphone socket hole disposed at one side thereof, and a power socket at the bottom thereof whereby said switching and retaining device converts into a hand-free device for a cellular phone.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number Name Date Kind
5305381 Wang et al. Apr 1994 A
6341218 Poplawsky et al. Jan 2002 B1
6714767 Fan Mar 2004 B2