The present disclosure relates to mountings for tablet computers, smartphones and the like portable screen devices, and in particular, but not exclusively, to mountings that conveniently enable them to be supported, for example, on the trays found hinged to the back of airline, train, coach and car seats.
Mountings are already known which permit tablet computers, smartphones and other portable screen devices to be mounted for hands-free viewing, e.g., on the back of airline, train and bus seats, and on the drop-down trays often found on such seat backs. Usually, such mountings are configured to support the screen device in an attitude for viewing when a drop-down tray is in the down position.
Unfortunately, when such a tray is in the down position, it restricts the space available to the person for whom it is provided. It would therefore be desirable to provide mountings for portable screen devices, which mountings take up the minimum amount of space and which are readily mountable and demountable upon the tray when it is in the “up” position. It would be desirable for such mountings to be cheap to produce for sale as minor purchases, or even for giving away by a transport service provider, before or during journeys. It would additionally be desirable if such mountings were also able to support portable screen devices for viewing on such trays when the latter are in the “down” or in-use position. It would further be desirable if such mountings were simple to set up and use.
In the present disclosure, “laterally”, “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rearwardly”, “forwardly”, “front”, “rear”, etc., should be understood to be approximate terms, relative to an observer's upright orientation with respect to gravity.
In general, the present disclosure relates to a mounting configured such that the mounting can hang from a laterally extending edge of an object with an upwardly extending surface and can support a tablet computer, smartphone or other portable screen device in an attitude for hands-free viewing; the mounting comprising a pair of hooked members, preferably formed from a rigid plastic material, each hooked member having a spine provided with first and second hook portions, each hook portion comprising an open end and a closed end bounded by inner and outer, mutually opposed side members of the hook portion, and the first and second hook portions being arranged on opposite sides of the spine to face in mutually opposed directions, such that in use the second hook portions engage the screen device.
The above-mentioned laterally extending edge of an object with an upwardly extending surface may be, e.g., an upper edge of a seat-back tray in the “up” position in a passenger vehicle. When used thus, the first hook portions are open in the downward direction and extend rearwardly to engage with said laterally extending edge and the second hook portions are open in the upward direction and extend forwardly from said upwardly extending surface to engage a lower edge of the screen device.
Preferably the mounting is further provided with means for additionally engaging the screen device during use to restrain or hold the screen device against relative movement between the screen device and the mounting.
For example, a means for additionally engaging the screen device may comprise at least one clip member configured to embrace an upper edge of a screen device and resilient coupling means for coupling the or each clip member to a hooked member. Furthermore, the at least one clip member, and a corresponding hooked member to which the or each clip member is to be coupled, may advantageously be provided with respective attachment points for the resilient coupling means.
In some embodiments as at present envisaged, and as seen in side elevation, the hook portions are rectilinear in configuration, the closed ends of the hook portions being straight between opposed side members of the hook portions. The spine of each hooked member may also be straight. These characteristics provide flat surfaces for contacting said upwardly extending surface, said laterally extending edge, and said screen device. In other embodiments, at least part of at least one of the hook portions of each hooked member, and/or at least part of the spine of each hooked member, may be curved or otherwise deviate from a straight line. This may be desirable to conform to, or avoid, surfaces that contact or confront the spine and hook portions.
With respect to the first hook portions and/or the second hook portions, and as seen in side elevation, the outer side members of the hook portions may be angled towards the spine, or opposed side members of the hook portions may extend parallel to each other, or the outer side members of the hook portions may be angled away from the spine.
In its simplest embodiments, each hooked member has a spine formed by a length of said rigid material, both ends of the spine being formed into a hook portion and the hook portions facing in mutually opposed directions. For convenience, the hook portions may be shaped identically, except for their directional orientation on the spine, thus rendering the hook portions functionally interchangeable.
It is preferred that at least the second hook portion on each hooked member is provided with a means for additionally engaging the screen device during use. In some embodiments, said means comprises a bias member, such as a spring device, arranged to urge the screen device into contact with an outer side member of the hook portion (the outer side member of a hook portion being the part that is spaced away from the spine). For example, the bias members may each comprise a cantilevered leaf spring attached at one end thereof to the spine and having its free end adjacent the closed end of the hook portion. Conveniently, such a leaf spring may comprise the same material as the spine and may be formed integrally therewith during a moulding operation or other forming operation used to produce the hooked members.
In preferred embodiments, the mountings are configured to be useable in first and second modes of use, the first mode of use being when hanging from the above-mentioned laterally extending edge of an object with an upwardly extending surface, e.g., an upper edge of a seat-back tray in the “up” position, and the second mode of use being when sitting on a substantially horizontal surface, e.g., the surface of a seat-back tray in the “down” position. In these preferred embodiments, the first and second hook portions respectively comprise:
a relatively narrow span hook portion that in the first mode of use embraces a laterally extending edge of an upwardly extending object; and
a relatively broad span hook portion that supports a lower edge of said screen device in both the first and second modes of use, the broad span hook portion having an underside configured to sit on a substantially horizontal surface in the second mode of use.
Advantageously, a means for additionally engaging the screen device may comprise a plurality of detents that are spaced apart along the closed ends of the above-mentioned broad span hook portions between opposed side members thereof, the detents being arranged to engage an edge of the screen device during use, thereby to hold the screen device at a corresponding plurality of different angles for viewing.
To enhance rigidity of the mounting, and to provide a base to enhance the suitability of the mounting to sit on a substantially horizontally extending surface, such as a seat-back tray in the down position, the broad-span hook portion of each hooked member may be part of an essentially triangular or quadrilateral body as seen in side elevation, an underside of said body forming an underside of the hooked member, the underside making a first acute included angle with a straight line produced as a continuation of the spine and a second acute included angle between a straight line produced as an extension of said underside and a straight line produced as an extension of the closed end of the broad-span hook portion, whereby in the second mode of use the mounting holds the screen device at a convenient angle for viewing.
A functionally equivalent arrangement may be achieved by providing each hooked member with a support strut that extends underneath the broad-span hook portion and connects the spine to the underside of the broad-span hook portion, an underside of the strut forming an underside of the hooked member, the strut making a first acute included angle with the spine and a second acute included angle with the underside of the broad-span hook portion, such that in use the mounting holds the screen device at a convenient angle for viewing when the mounting is placed on a substantially horizontal surface.
In some embodiments, the hook portions of each hooked member are arranged on the spine in a directly back-to-back configuration with respect to each other, i.e., the hook portions are at least partly coextensive with each other on opposite sides of the spine. However, it is evident that, at the discretion of the designer, the hooked members can be produced with their first and second hook portions at any predetermined locations on the spines. For example, in the first mode of use, if the first hook portion is located below the upper end of the spine, instead of at the upper end, the mounting can hold the screen device at a higher viewing position relative to said laterally extending edge. This advantage is realised in favoured embodiments, in which in the first mode of use, the open end of the first hook portion is located adjacent the lower end of the spine, below the closed end of the second hook portion.
If required, stability of the mountings in the above-mentioned second mode of use may be enhanced by providing the underside of each hooked member with at least one feature, such as a foot or the like, effective to broaden said underside where it contacts said substantially horizontal surface.
Embodiments may also be envisaged in which said underside of each hooked member has a limited degree of concavity, whereby in the second mode of use, front and rear parts of said underside contact said horizontal surface, but a middle portion of said underside does not contact said horizontal surface; this may aid stability of the mounting in situations where the substantially horizontal surface is not completely flat.
Although at present it is thought preferable that both hook portions of each hooked member are unitary with the spine, so that the spine comprises the inner side member of both hook portions, alternative embodiments are also contemplated, in which the first hook portions are attachable to and detachable from the spines of their hooked members. In this way, the position of the first hook portion on the spine of each hooked member may be adjusted. In particular, the first hook portions may be slideable on their spines and lockable in selected positions thereon. In one mechanism for achieving this, each spine is provided with a slot extending longitudinally of the spine, the slot communicating with a channel formed internally of the spine and extending longitudinally thereof, the inner side member of each first hook portion having (a) a flange shaped to be complimentary to the shape of the channel and (b) a stem portion arranged to extend through the slot to join the flange portion to the inner side member of the first hook portion.
Opposed side walls of each channel may have a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart indentations, the flange portion having protrusions complimentary to the indentations, whereby when the flange portion is correctly aligned relative to the channel, the protrusions engage with the indentations and lock the first hook portion into position at a selected position on the spine.
To facilitate attachment of the first hook portion to the spine, the channel and the slot are open-ended at one or both ends of each spine and a side of the channel has a re-entrant profile adapted to allow insertion of the flange and stem into the channel and slot at a skew angle, and sliding of the first hook portion to a selected position on the spine, before twisting the first hook portion into a locked position on the spine.
The above-mentioned components of the mountings may be produced and sold separately, but preferably, each mounting is provided as a kit of parts including a pair of substantially identically configured hooked members that in use are laterally spaced apart from each other to support the screen device in a stable position. In the case where the first hook portions are attachable to the spines, the kit of parts preferably also includes the first hook portions.
Preferably, the kit of parts further includes at least one clip member configured to embrace an upper edge of the screen device and enable resilient coupling of the clip member to a hooked member, thereby in use to restrain the screen device against movement relative to the mounting.
The kit of parts preferably further includes at least one resilient coupling, such as at least one elasticated cord or the like, for coupling the clip member to a hooked member. Both the clip member, and a hooked member to which the clip is to be coupled, are preferably provided with respective attachment points for the resilient coupling.
The mountings of the present disclosure can be easily and cheaply mass-produced, for example as metal stampings or as plastic mouldings. Alternatively, they can also be produced by 3-D printing techniques.
Some exemplary embodiments of mountings as summarised above will now be described with reference to the accompanying sketch drawings, in which:
The drawings are not to scale.
The mounting can hold a tablet computer, smartphone or other portable screen device in an attitude for hands-free viewing, by hanging it from a laterally extending edge of an upwardly extending object, e.g., the upper edge of a seat-back tray in a passenger vehicle, such as an airliner, train carriage, motor coach or automobile. To enable this function, the hooked member 10 is configured such that first and second, upper and lower, hook portions 12, 14, are arranged on opposite sides of a common spine 15. Each hook portion 12, 14, comprises an open end of internal span S1, S2 and a closed end 12C, 14C of breadths B1, B2, the closed ends being bounded by mutually opposed side members 12A/12B and 14A/14B of the hook portions. In the illustrated embodiment, S1=S2 and B1=B2, though these dimensions are at the discretion of the designer. The hook portions are joined to each other by the spine, whereby one side member 12B, 14B of each hook portion is formed by the spine 15. Furthermore, as seen in
Hence, in
It will be noted from
The front elevation of the complete mounting is shown in
Whereas the second hook portions 14 engage the lower edge of the screen device during use, such engagement alone may not always be effective to restrain the lower edge 20 of the screen device 22 from sliding on the closed ends 14C of the hook portions. Hence, it may be desirable to provide the mounting with additional means for engaging the screen device, in order to restrain or hold it against movement relative to the mounting.
Such additional means for engaging the screen device may, for example, comprise resilient members that bear against the screen device to help hold it in place, and in the embodiment of
It should be understood that although
These design measures would also tend to reduce or eliminate contact of the outer side member 14A of hook portion 14 with the surface of the screen device 22. Any such contact could also be ameliorated by applying large radii to the corners of the outer side members 14A of hook portions 14 which are liable to contact the surface of the screen device.
The above design measures could also, or alternatively, be applied mutatis mutandis to hook portion 12.
Although in
Turning now to
Another thing that the variants of
The broad span hook portion 214 further differs from the narrow span hook portion 212 in that it is provided with several ridges 216 that have rectangular cross sections, though other cross sections could be used, e.g., triangular or curved. Ridges 216 are spaced apart from each other along the closed end 214C of the broad span hook portion between its opposed side members 214A, 214B. The ridges 216 act as detents that can engage a lower edge of the screen device (not shown) to hold the screen device at several different angles for viewing. In the embodiment of
The shape of the body 316 substantially enhances the rigidity of the closed end 314C of hook portion 314 as it supports the screen device. Moreover, the underside 317 of the body 316 is well adapted to provide a base to enable the hooked member 310—and of course the mounting as a whole—to sit on a substantially horizontal surface, such as a seat-back tray when it is in the “down” position. Use of the mounting on a horizontal surface may be termed a second mode of use of the mounting, the first mode of use being when it is hung from, e.g., the upper edge of a seat-back tray.
Although the strut 416 in
For example, in
Although in
As will also be noticed in
In
As viewed in its first mode of use, the hooked member 510 differs from the embodiments of
For convenience, a complete mounting for a portable screen device may be provided as a kit of parts including two substantially identical hooked members, such as shown in the accompanying Figures, which are laterally spaced apart from each other to support the screen device in a stable position.
It should be understood that in the embodiment of
Referring again to
The concept of resiliently coupling a clip member to one or both of the hooked members in order to restrain relative movement between the screen device and the mounting is also applicable to the other embodiments disclosed herein.
Turning now to
Whereas in the previously described embodiments, both the first and the second hook portions are unitary and integral with the spine of each hooked member, in a further embodiment, illustrated in
To facilitate initial attachment of the first hook portion 612 to the spine 615, and to enable sliding of the first hook portion up and down the spine, the slot 640 and the channel 642 are open-ended at one or both ends of the spine and one side of the channel has a re-entrant profile 652 that extends along the whole length of the channel and merges with the row of indentations 649 on the same side of the channel, as shown in
The mountings of the present disclosure can be easily and cheaply mass-produced as plastic mouldings or by 3-D printing techniques and the components that together make up individual mountings will preferably be supplied in kit form. It should be understood that in all embodiments of the hooked members, the shapes and lengths of their spines, the shapes, dimensions and angles of the hook portions, and the positions of the hook portions on the spines, are all at the discretion of the designer and will be chosen based on an understanding of the dimensions of the screen devices to be supported and the objects supporting the mountings. Note that in all embodiments, the internal corners at the junctions between the opposed side members and the closed ends of the hook portions should preferably be radiused to minimise stress concentrations.
Although the present disclosure has focused on the use of the above-described mountings in conjunction with seat-back trays in passenger vehicles, the claims are not limited to such, since it is evident that if desired, the mountings can used in conjunction with many other types of objects, e.g., tables, desks, chairs, etc.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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1509836 | Jun 2015 | GB | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/GB2016/051271 | 5/4/2016 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2016/198828 | 12/15/2016 | WO | A |
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20180356030 A1 | Dec 2018 | US |