Abstract: A stowable display apparatus is disclosed that includes a base adapted to be mounted on the ceiling of a vehicle, such as an automobile, and a display unit that is mounted on the base. The display unit is pivotal with respect to the base in a range of positions between a stowed position, in which the unit is retained proximate the base and generally parallel to the ceiling of the vehicle, and a deployed position, in which the unit is pivoted away from the base into the passenger compartment of the vehicle. The display unit further includes a push-button mechanism that selectively engages the display unit to retain the unit in the stowed position. The mechanism includes a push-button actuator that is moveable between a rest position, in which the mechanism is positioned to engage the display unit, and a depressed position, in which the actuator is moved toward the base and the mechanism freed from engagement with the display unit, thereby enabling the display unit to pivot away from the stowed position.

Abstract: A stowable monitor life apparatus is described. The invented lift apparatus employs two different biasing mechanisms for deployment of a monitor support structure, thereby reducing the space required to house the apparatus with its associated monitor while promoting quick and easy deployment and stowage of the monitor within the system's housing. Preferably, the biasing mechanisms take the form of a pivotal gas spring in combination with a coil spring, whereby the coil spring acts along a generally vertical axis to partially deploy the monitor support structure and to pivot the nominally horizontal gas spring into an inclined orientation that enables it to complete the lifting of the monitor support structure. Thus, the two springs assist one another upon manual deployment via a pushbutton release mechanism.