Apparatus for Providing A Heads Up Display Using A Display Output of A Mobile Device

Abstract

An apparatus includes a device including a screen; a ledge against which the device lays; a connecting arm; and a partially transparent mirror coupled to the ledge via the connecting arm, where the mirror includes a center and two outer lateral edges and is structured and arranged relative to the ledge such that the screen faces the mirror and a center of the mirror is further from the screen than each of the two outer lateral edges, a part of the mirror that is adjacent the first of the two outer lateral edges thereby reflecting a part of the screen that is opposite the second of the two outer lateral edges, and a part of the mirror that is opposite the second of the two outer lateral edges thereby reflecting a part of the screen that is opposite the first of the two outer lateral edges.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present invention is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/076,339, which was filed Mar. 21, 2016, issued on Oct. 17, 2017 as U.S. Pat. No. 9,791,698, and claims priority to U.S. Prov. Pat. App. Ser. No. 62/135,356, filed Mar. 19, 2015, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heads up display device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus fastened to a mobile device according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an apparatus with a partial mirror reflecting a surface of a mobile device according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the apparatus of FIG. 2 from different perspectives.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An apparatus includes a housing with a receiving section adapted for releasably holding a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone device or other mobile computing device. For example, FIGS. 1-4 show a mobile telephone 1, and FIGS. 1 and 3 show a receiving section 2 in which the mobile telephone 1 is being held.

In an example embodiment, the receiving section 2 is flexible so that mobile devices of various sizes can each be fastened in the receiving section. For example, in an example embodiment, the receiving section 2 includes a fixed section and a movable section that can be moved in a direction away from and in a direction towards the fixed section, with a biasing mechanism, such as a spring, that biases the movable section in the direction towards the fixed section. In this embodiment, a user can apply force to the movable section, to move it in the direction away from the fixed section against the biasing force, to thereby provide a large enough space in which to insert the mobile device, and thereafter release the movable section so that the biasing force pulls the movable section towards the fixed section with the mobile device positioned between the fixed and movable sections, the biasing force thereby firmly holding the mobile device to the apparatus.

In other example embodiments, other fixing means are provided for releasably fastening the mobile device to the apparatus.

The apparatus further includes a partial mirror 3, including a semi-reflective surface with a transparency that allows for observing an environment at a first side of the partial mirror from a second opposite side of the partial mirror.

The partial mirror is attached to the housing, positioned relative to the receiving section such that, when a mobile device 1 is fastened in the receiving section 2, a surface of the mobile device 1 is reflected by the partial mirror 3. For example, FIGS. 2-4 show the partial mirror 3 reflecting a map display 4 of the mobile device 1. Further, the housing and partial mirror 3 are arranged such that the mobile device 1 can be fastened in the receiving section 2 with a screen of the mobile device 1 being the surface that is reflected by the partial mirror 3.

In an example embodiment, the apparatus is configured for the mobile device 1, when fastened to the apparatus, to be tilted so that an upper end 5 of the reflected surface is further from the partial mirror 3 than a lower end 6 of the reflected surface.

In an example embodiment, the apparatus is configured for the mobile device 1, when fastened to the apparatus, to be positioned relative to the partial mirror 3 such that a top 7 of the partial mirror 3 is higher than a top 5 of the reflected surface, so that the partial mirror 3 can be viewed over the top 5 of the mobile device 1.

In an example embodiment, the apparatus includes a fastening component by which the apparatus is releasable fastenable to a vehicle dashboard and/or a vehicle windshield, such that, when the apparatus is fastened to the dashboard and/or windshield, a driver can view, through the partial mirror 3, an environment behind the partial mirror 3 and beyond the windshield while the partial mirror 3 also reflects the screen of the mobile device 1 releasably fastened within the receiving section 2 of the apparatus.

In an example embodiment, the partial mirror 3 is a true mirror, such that the reflection of the screen by the mirror 3 is not a reverse of an actual display within the screen of the mobile device 1.

In an example embodiment, the true mirror is a curved mirror.

In an alternative example embodiment, the true mirror is formed of at least two mirrors 3a and 3b positioned at an angle to each other. For example, in an example embodiment, the true mirror is formed of two abutting mirrors 3a and 3b arranged relative to each other at an angle selected from a range of approximately 45°-90°. For example, in an example embodiment, the true mirror is formed of two abutting mirrors 3a and 3b arranged relative to each other at an angle of approximately 45°.

According to an example embodiment, a system includes a mobile device 1 as described above and an apparatus in which the mobile device 1 is held, the apparatus including a partial mirror 3 as described above positioned relative to a display screen of the mobile device 1, according to a relative position as described above, such that a true non-reversed image of the display screen is reflected by the partial mirror 3 while an environment beyond the partial mirror 3, on a side of the partial mirror 3 opposite the side that faces the display screen, is viewable through the partial mirror 3.

According to an example embodiment, a vehicle includes a system as described above.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can appreciate from the foregoing description and the following drawings that the present invention may be implemented in a variety of forms, and that the various embodiments may be implemented alone or in combination. Therefore, while the embodiments of the present invention have been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the embodiments and/or methods of the present invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, specification, and the following claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a ledge;

a connecting arm; and

a partial mirror coupled to the ledge via the connecting arm, wherein: the partial mirror includes a center and two outer lateral edges and is structured and arranged relative to the ledge such that, if a component having a flat surface is laid against the ledge with the flat surface facing away from the ledge and spanning laterally from across a first one of the two outer lateral edges to across a second one of the two lateral edges, the flat surface faces the partial mirror and a center of the partial mirror is further from the flat surface than each of the two outer lateral edges, a part of the partial mirror that is adjacent the first of the two outer lateral edges thereby reflecting a part of the flat surface that is opposite the second of the two outer lateral edges, and a part of the partial mirror that is opposite the second of the two outer lateral edges thereby reflecting a part of the flat surface that is opposite the first of the two outer lateral edges; and the partial mirror is partially transparent.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the partial mirror curves from each of the two outer lateral edges away from the ledge and towards the center of the partial mirror.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the partial mirror includes a first flat mirror section that includes the first of the two outer lateral edges and a second flat mirror section that includes the second of the two outer lateral edges, the two flat mirror sections meeting approximately at the center of the partial mirror.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first and second flat mirrors are arranged at angle relative to each other, the angle being in a range of approximately 45°-90°.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the angle is 45°.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ledge is configured such that, if the component includes a flat bottom face and a flat back face that includes a lower edge and an upper edge and extends perpendicularly upward away from the flat bottom face from its lower edge towards its upper edge and the component is laid with its flat back face (a) against the ledge and (b) extending upwards from its bottom face at a lower region of the ledge to its upper edge at an upper region of the ledge, then the upper edge of the flat back face is positioned further from the partial mirror than the lower edge of the flat back surface.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a device including a screen;

a ledge against which the device lays;

a connecting arm; and

a partial mirror coupled to the ledge via the connecting arm, wherein: the partial mirror includes a center and two outer lateral edges and is structured and arranged relative to the ledge such that the screen faces the partial mirror and a center of the partial mirror is further from the screen than each of the two outer lateral edges, a part of the partial mirror that is adjacent the first of the two outer lateral edges thereby reflecting a part of the screen that is opposite the second of the two outer lateral edges, and a part of the partial mirror that is opposite the second of the two outer lateral edges thereby reflecting a part of the screen that is opposite the first of the two outer lateral edges; and the partial mirror is partially transparent.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is structured such that, when the apparatus is laid on a flat surface, a top edge of the partial mirror is higher than a top edge of the device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the flat surface is a vehicle dashboard.