Support apparatus

A support apparatus includes a base portion, a rotation shaft and a bracket portion. The base portion is attached to a device. The bracket portion is coupled to the base portion by inserting the rotation shaft through the bracket portion and the base portion, and the rotation shaft is perpendicular to the base portion. The bracket portion is rotatable using the rotation shaft as a pivot. The bracket portion includes a hinge, a rotation shaft and a stand. The hinge is secured to the base portion by the rotation shaft. The rotation shaft is inserted into the hinge and the rotation shaft is perpendicular to the rotation shaft. The stand is coupled with the two ends of the rotation shaft. The stand supports the device with a predetermined angle between them. The stand can be rotatable so that the device stands relying upon either one of the four sides and the stand.

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Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is based on, and claims priority from, Taiwan Application Serial Number 94143426, filed Dec. 8, 2005, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The invention relates to a support apparatus and, in particular, to a support apparatus that selectively supports a device to stand on an arbitrary side at an adjustable angle.

2. Related Art

Conventional tablet personal computers (PC) usually do not have support apparatuses; only very few of them have support apparatuses. The so-called support apparatus is just an additional base portion or auxiliary device to support the tablet PC. Another alternative is to use a simple bracket portion to support the back of the tablet PC. However, the base portion, the auxiliary device, or the bracket portion usually can only support the tablet PC in a single direction. It is impossible for the tablet PC to selectively stand on an arbitrary side for display images. The additional base portion and auxiliary device occupy space when they are not in use; therefore, they become obstacles in this case. Moreover, when adjusting the inclination angle of the image, the user has to hold the support apparatus with one hand and adjust the angle of the tablet PC with the other. It is very inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention is to provide a support apparatus so that a device can selectively stand on an arbitrary side with a different supporting direction.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a support apparatus so that the user can adjust the inclination angle of the device by exerting a force on the device without holding the support apparatus.

A further objective of the invention is to provide a support apparatus that is installed directly on the device. Its volume is so small that it does not occupy too much space.

In accord with the above-mentioned objectives, the disclosed support apparatus includes a base portion, a rotation shaft, and a bracket portion. The bracket portion is coupled to the base portion by inserting the rotation shaft through the bracket portion and the base portion, and the rotation shaft is perpendicular to the base portion. The bracket portion is rotatable using the rotation shaft as a pivot. The bracket portion includes a hinge, a rotation shaft and a stand. The hinge is secured to the base portion by the rotation shaft. The rotation shaft is inserted into the hinge and the rotation shaft is perpendicular to the rotation shaft. The stand is coupled with the two ends of the rotation shaft. The stand supports the device with a predetermined angle between them. The stand can be rotatable so that the device stands relying upon either one of the four sides and the stand.

The disclosed support apparatus further has a positioning device, including two connection bodies with matching shapes on the base portion and the bracket portion. The positioning device temporarily fixes the relative position between the base portion and the bracket portion.

The disclosed support apparatus further has a torque controller disposed between the hinge and the rotation shaft. When the rotation shaft rotates over a predetermined angle, the torque controller is in action to distort and store the torque.

The bracket portion of the disclosed support apparatus and the resting plane has at least one contact point.

The bracket portion of the disclosed support apparatus is coupled to the rotation shaft via the bracket portion.

The two connection bodies in the disclosed support apparatus are a positioning bump and a positioning hole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional exploded view of the disclosed support apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a schematic three-dimensional view of the assembled support apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 provides both front and side views of the support apparatus in FIG. 1 in the rotation state;

FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional exploded view of the support apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a three-dimensional exploded view of the support apparatus in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of the support apparatus in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.

The directions and angles referred in this specification are based upon the accompanying drawings. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the device 900 is in the 0-degree position when it is disposed horizontally, in the 90-degree position when it is rotated clockwise by 90 degree, in the 180-degree position when it is rotated clockwise by 180 degrees, and in the 270-degree position when it is rotated clockwise by 270. Other angles are defined in a similar way.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the disclosed support apparatus includes a base portion 100, a rotation shaft 200, and a bracket portion 300. The support apparatus is mounted on the device 900 with the base portion 100. The rotation shaft 200 is perpendicular to the base portion 100. The bracket portion 300 is coupled to the base portion 100 via the rotation shaft 200. The bracket portion 300 can rotate about the rotation shaft 200 relative to the base portion 100.

The bracket portion 300 includes a hinge 310, a rotation shaft 320, two stand bases 330, and a stand. The bracket portion 300 couples the hinge 310 to the base portion 100 using the rotation shaft 200. The hinge 310 rotates with respect to the base portion 100 using the rotation shaft 200 as a pivot. The rotation shaft 320 is inserted into the hinge 310, perpendicular to the rotation shaft 200. The two stand bases 330 are coupled to both ends of the rotation shaft 320. The stand 340 is disposed between the two stand bases 330. FIG. 1 does not show the overall shape of the stand 340. As long as the weight and volume of the device 900 are taken into account, the stand 340 can have an arbitrary shape, such as those shown in later drawings. The bottom of the stand 340 is preferably to be parallel to the disposing edges of the device 900.

As shown in FIG. 6a, the bottom of the stand 340 touches against the resting plane when using the disclosed support apparatus. One imposes a force on the device 900 to make the angle between the device 900 and the resting plane larger than the minimal angle θ0 that is required to support the device 900. Afterwards, when the force is removed from the device 900, the friction between the rotation shaft 320 and the hinge 310 fixes the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900. This fixes the angle between the device 900 and the resting plane. When rotating the device 900 from its horizontal position to the vertical position (FIG. 3), the bottom of the stand 340 touches against the resting plane and one rotates the device 900 using the rotation shaft 200 as a pivot. The inclination angle between the device 900 and the resting plane is adjusted according to the above-mentioned steps, releasing the force and supporting the device 900 in its vertical position. Alternatively, the device 900 can be rotated by 180 or 270 degrees using the rotation shaft 200 as a pivot. The points at the corners of the device 900 in the drawing are used to indicate the rotation states of the device 900. In practice, one only needs to rotate the device 900 according to the real situation. When the bottom of the stand 340 touches against the resting plane, they preferably have more than one contact point for the convenience of exerting a force on the device 900 and rotating it. As shown in FIG. 3, the contact between the stand 340 and the resting plane is a linear contact parallel to the sides of the device 900.

In order for the device 900 to be rotated to stand on an arbitrary side and the device 900 and the support apparatus to stand in a more stable way, a positioning device 400 is further disposed between the base portion 100 and the bracket portion 300. The positioning device 400 includes at least two connection bodies with matching shapes on the base portion 100 and the bracket portion 300, respectively. The positioning device 400 temporarily fixes the relative position between the base portion 100 and the bracket portion 300. The positioning device 400 has a plurality of positioning holes 410 on the base portion 100 and a plurality of positioning bumps 430 on the bracket portion 300. The positions of the positioning holes 410 correspond to those of the positioning bumps 430. They are used to fix the bracket portion 300, so that the supported device 900 is fixed in the 0-degree, 90-degree, 180-degree, or 270-degree position. Using the elasticity of the base position 100 or the bracket portion 300 or an additional elastic body 600, the positioning bumps 430 fall into the positioning holes 410 when the device reaches a predetermined position, temporarily fixing the relative position between the base portion 100 and the bracket portion 300.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the disclosed support apparatus. It is featured in that the bracket portion 300 further includes a torque controller 350 between the hinge 310 and the rotation shaft 320. In addition to the friction between the rotation shaft 320 and the hinge 310 to control the torque of the stand 340, the torque controller 350 is used to control the torque of the stand 340. The use of the torque controller 350 provides the disclosed support apparatus with two torques. In the following, we use drawings to explain this embodiment. The description of the parts that are similar to the previous embodiment will be brief.

As shown in FIG. 4, the torque controller 350 uses a coil spring, disposed between the hinge 310 and the rotation shaft 320, e.g., between the cam on the hinge 310 and the cam on the rotation shaft 320 (not shown). When the rotation shaft 320 (stand 340) rotates more than a predetermined angle θ1, the torque controller 350 starts to act due to the squeeze or stretch of the two cams, deforms and stores a torque. To adjust the angle of the device 900 back to the upright position, the torque controller 350 releases the stored torque as an elastic force, returning the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900 to the angle θ1. The elastic force generated by the torque controller 350 is slightly larger than the friction between the hinge 310 and the rotation shaft 320.

As shown in FIG. 6a, the first torque between the hinge 310 and the stand 340 is provided by the friction between the hinge 310 and the rotation shaft 320. When the angle of the device 900 is adjusted so that the predetermined angle θ1 between the stand 340 and the device 900 opens up, the friction between the hinge 310 and the rotation shaft 320 allows the stand 340 to stop at any angle between θ0 and θ1.

As shown in FIG. 6b, when the angle of the device 900 is adjusted so that the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900 exceeds the predetermined angle θ1, the torque controller 350 deforms and stores a torque. Once the force to adjust the device 900 is released, the stand 340 stops at the adjusted angle and the torque controller 350 keeps storing the deformation torque.

As shown in FIG. 6c, to adjust the device 900 to its upright position, the torque controller 350 releases the previously stored torque as an elastic force when a force is exerted on the device 900. This reduces the required external force to be imposed on the device. Alternatively, one may use the resting side of the device 900 as the pivot and exert a force to rotate the device 900 so that the bottom of the stand 340 leaves the resting plane. In this case, the torque controller 350 releases the previously stored torque as an elastic force, returning the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900 back to the original angle θ1. The user can then re-adjust the inclination angle of the device 900.

As shown in FIG. 5, the disclosed support apparatus also includes several different torque controllers 350. In the following, we consider an example with two torque controllers: the first torque controller 351 and the second torque controller 352. In this embodiment, the use of the torque controllers 351, 352 provides the support apparatus with three torques for adjustments. The torque controllers 351, 352 use coil springs, disposed between the hinge 310 and the rotation shaft 320, e.g., between the cam on the hinge 310 and the cam on the rotation shaft 320 (not shown). When the rotation shaft 320 (stand 340) rotates over the predetermined angle θ1, the torque controller 351 starts to act due to the squeeze or stretch of the two cams, deforms and stores a torque. When the rotation shaft 320 (stand 340) rotates over the predetermined angle θ2, the torque controller 352 starts to act due to the squeeze or stretch of the two cams, deforms and stores a torque. To adjust the angle of the device 900 back to the upright position, the torque controller 350 releases the stored torque as an elastic force, reducing the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900. The elastic force generated by the torque controller 351 is slightly larger than the friction between the hinge 310 and the rotation shaft 320. The elastic force generated by the torque controller 352 is slightly larger than the elastic force generated by the torque controller 351.

As shown in FIG. 6a, the first torque is provided by the friction between the hinge 310 and the rotation shaft 320 when the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900 is less than θ1. As shown in FIG. 6b, the first torque controller 351 is in action to deform and store the torque as the second torque only when the rotation shaft 320 (stand 340) rotates to between θ1 and θ2. As shown in FIG. 6d, the second torque controller 352 is in action to deform and store the torque as the third torque only when the rotation shaft 320 (stand 340) rotates to between θ2 and θ3. The second torque is slightly larger than the first torque, and the third torque is slightly larger than the second torque.

When adjusting the angle of the device 900 such that the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900 falls between θ1 and θ2, the first torque controller 351 deforms to store the torque. When the force for adjusting the device 900 is removed, the stand 340 stops at the desired angle. The first torque controller 351 remains deformed and stores the torque.

When adjusting the angle of the device 900 such that the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900 falls between θ2 and θ3, the second torque controller 352 deforms to store the torque. When the force for adjusting the device 900 is removed, the stand 340 stops at the desired angle. The second torque controller 352 remains deformed and stores the torque.

To return the angle of the device 900 back to its upright position, one imposes a force on the device 900. First, the second torque controller 352 releases the previously stored torque as an elastic force, reducing the required external force and the angle to θ2. The user can select to adjust the angle of the device 900 such that the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900 falls between θ2 and θ3 or within θ2. To obtain an angle within θ3, one only needs to impose a force on the device 900 to increase the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900. To obtain an angle within θ2, a force is imposed on the device 900. The first torque controller 351 releases the previously stored torque as an elastic force, reducing the required external force and the angle down to θ1. Alternatively, one may use the resting side of the device 900 as the pivot and exert a force to rotate the device 900 so that the bottom of the stand 340 leaves the resting plane. In this case, the torque controllers 352, 351 release the previously stored torques as elastic forces in sequence, returning the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900 back to the original angle θ1. The user can then re-adjust the inclination angle of the device 900.

Likewise, as long as the space permits, the disclosed support apparatus can include several different torque controllers.

Therefore, the user does not need to hold the support apparatus by hand. The user only needs to open the stand 340 to an angle larger than θ0. The device 900 then stands on the resting plane. If the user wants to further tilt the angle between the device 900 and the resting plane, he/she only needs to impose a force on the device until the desired angle is reached. To return the tilted device 900 back to its upright position, the user only needs to impose a force on the device 900.

Within the technical scope of the invention, various embodiments can be implemented. For example, the larger the angle between the stand 340 and the device 900 is, the larger the angle between the device 900 and the resting plane is. Therefore, when the stand 340 is within the opening angle θ1, it is preferably for the device 900 and the resting plane to be perpendicular to each other, as long as the stand 340 can support the device 900. The device 900 covers a wider angle range. The above-mentioned angles θ0, θ1, θ2, and θ3 are not restricted herein. They can be set according to practice. For example, θ0 is 0˜5 degrees, θ1 is 5˜30 degrees, θ2 is 30˜60 degrees, and θ3 is 60˜90 degrees.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the positioning holes 410 and the corresponding positioning bumps 430 are used as the positioning device 400 with a 90-degree interval. If the resting plane is not horizontal, the positioning device 400 can be provided with a smaller angular separation. The positions of the positioning holes 410 and the positioning bumps 430 can be interchanged. Besides, the two structural bodies with matching shapes of the positioning device 400 are not limited to the positioning holes 410 and positioning bumps 430 mentioned herein. As long as the relative position between the base portion 100 and the hinge 310 can be fixed, the tow structural bodies with matching shapes of the positioning device 400 can be in the forms of saws or elastic chips (not shown).

In the above embodiments, two stand bases 330 are coupled to the two ends of the rotation shaft 320, and the stand 340 is then installed between the two stand bases 330. Nevertheless, the stand 340 can be directly coupled to both ends of the rotation shaft 320 to reduce the number of components. This can save the cost and shorten the production time. Moreover, there can be various kinds of pads 700 between the connection shaft 200, rotation shaft 320, etc, so that the components can function smoothly.

Besides, an angle limiter 360 can be used between the rotation shaft 320 (stand 340) and the hinge 310 to limit the largest rotation angle between the stand 340 and the hinge 310. Any person skilled in the art can make modifications to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, the fixing devices and methods for fixing the base portion 100 on the device 900 and for fixing the stand bases 330 and the stand 340 can be determined according to needs. All such implementations should be included in the scope of the claims of the invention.

The invention has the following advantages:

    • 1. In view of the versatility of the device, the invention enables the device to selectively stand along an arbitrary side.
    • 2. The angle of the device is adjusted using a positioning device, overcoming the problem of a non-flat resting plane.
    • 3. To adjust the device to a desired position and inclination angle, the user only needs to impose a force on the device without holding the support apparatus.
    • 4. The support apparatus has a smaller volume and is directly installed on the device. No additional base portion or auxiliary tools are need.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A support apparatus, comprising:

a base portion installed on a device;
a connection shaft coupled to the base portion in a perpendicular way; and
a bracket portion coupled to the base portion using the connection shaft and rotatable with respect to the connection shaft, the bracket portion including: a hinge coupling the bracket portion to the base portion via the connection shaft; a rotation shaft inserted into the hinge; and a stand coupled between the two ends of the rotation shaft;
wherein the stand and the device are separated by a predetermined angle to support the device on a resting plane, the relative position between the stand and the device is adjusted using the connection shaft as a pivot, thereby selecting to stand the device along an arbitrary side.

2. The support apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a positioning device including two structural bodies with matching shapes, located respectively on the base portion and the bracket portion, wherein the positioning device temporarily fixes the relative position between the base portion and the bracket portion.

3. The support apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a torque controller disposed between the hinge and the rotation shaft, wherein when the rotation shaft rotates over a predetermined angle the torque controller starts to deform and store a torque.

4. The support apparatus of claim 1, wherein the stand and the resting plane has at least one contact point.

5. The support apparatus of claim 1, wherein the stand is coupled to the rotation shaft using the bracket portion.

6. The support apparatus of claim 2, wherein the two structural bodies with matching shapes are a positioning bump and a positioning hole.

7. A support apparatus, comprising:

a base portion installed on a device;
a connection shaft coupled to the base portion in a perpendicular way;
a bracket portion coupled to the base portion using the connection shaft and rotatable with respect to the connection shaft, the bracket portion including: a hinge coupling the bracket portion to the base portion via the connection shaft; a rotation shaft inserted into the hinge; and a stand coupled between the two ends of the rotation shaft;
a positioning device including two structural bodies with matching shapes, located respectively on the base portion and the bracket portion, to temporarily fix the relative position between the base portion and the bracket portion; and
a torque controller disposed between the hinge and the rotation shaft so that the torque controller starts to deform and store a torque when the rotation shaft rotates over a predetermined angle;
wherein the stand and the device are separated by a predetermined angle to support the device on a resting plane, the relative position between the stand and the device is adjusted using the connection shaft as a pivot, thereby selecting to stand the device along an arbitrary side.

8. The support apparatus of claim 7, wherein the stand and the resting plane has at least one contact point.

9. The support apparatus of claim 7, wherein the stand is coupled to the rotation shaft using the bracket portion.

10. The support apparatus of claim 7, wherein the two structural bodies with matching shapes are a positioning bump and a positioning hole.

Patent History
Publication number: 20070138369
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 23, 2006
Publication Date: Jun 21, 2007
Inventors: Jung-Wen Chang (Lu Chu Hsiang), Chun-Feng Lai (San Chung City)
Application Number: 11/386,798
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: 248/688.000
International Classification: A47G 29/00 (20060101);