Supports – Stand – Tilting support surface
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-25
2003-11-11
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Supports
Stand
Tilting support surface
C248S349100, C248S923000, C248S183200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06644616
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tilt-swivel stand. In particular, it relates to a tilt-swivel stand to support e.g. a CRT (cathode ray tube) for moving the screen of the CRT both in a vertical plane (tilt) and in a horizontal plane (swivel).
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of conventional tilt-swivel stands is disclosed in JP-A-6(1994)-189229. The conventional stand, as shown in
FIG. 10
of the accompanying drawings, is provided with a base
50
placed on e.g. a desk, and a movable member
60
upon which a CRT is mounted.
The base
50
is provided at its upper portion with a concave supporting surface
51
coinciding with a part of the surface of a sphere. An upright protrusion
52
extends at the center of the support surface
51
. The movable member
60
is provided at its lower portion with a convex slide surface
61
whose curvature is equal to that of the above-mentioned concave surface
51
. The slide surface
61
is formed with an elongated guide groove
62
to receive the protrusion
52
of the base
50
. The width of the groove
62
is slightly greater than the outer diameter of the protrusion
52
.
In the assembled state, the concave surface
51
is held in sliding engagement with the convex slide surface
61
, with the protrusion
52
extending into the guide groove
62
. A screw
70
with a sufficiently large head is driven into the upper portion of the protrusion
52
to prevent the movable member
60
from coming off the base
50
.
With the above arrangement, the movable member
60
is still allowed to tilt on the base
50
as the protrusion
52
is moved along the groove
62
. Also, the movable member
60
can be swiveled about the protrusion
52
with respect to the base
50
, at whatever position the protrusion
30
is located within the guide groove
62
.
However, in the conventional tilt-swivel stand, the screw
70
is used for holding the base
50
and the movable member
60
together. Unfavorably, driving the screw
70
into the prescribed portion requires for an additional procedure in the assembly line. Also, to use the screw
70
will raise the production costs.
Another example of conventional tilt-swivel stands is disclosed in JP-A-8(1996)-140017. As shown in
FIG. 11
of the accompanying drawings, the conventional stand includes a base (not shown) and a movable member
80
held in sliding engagement with the base, as in the previous conventional stand (FIG.
10
). The tilt-swivel stand of
FIG. 11
is different from the previous one in that no screw is used for attaching the movable member
80
to the base.
Specifically, as shown in
FIG. 11
, an upright protrusion
90
is arranged at the center of the base, and a guide groove
81
is formed in the movable member
80
for receiving the upright protrusion
90
. The upright protrusion
90
is formed with several fins
90
a
projecting radially. The guide groove
81
has a uniform width except for one end
81
a
at which a generally circular through-hole is formed.
For attaching the movable member
80
to the non-illustrated base, the protrusion
90
is inserted into the guide groove
81
at the enlarged end
81
a.
The end
81
a
is large enough to allow the fins
90
a
to go beyond the groove
81
. Then, the movable member
80
is caused to slide on the base, so that the fins
90
a
are moved from the end
81
a
to the constant-width portion
81
b,
as shown in FIG.
11
. In this state, some of the horizontally projecting pins
90
a
are caught by the movable member
80
, thereby securing the movable member
80
to the non-illustrated base.
With such an arrangement, no additional fixing means such as a screw is needed, which is advantageous to reducing the number of parts necessary for assembling the tilt-swivel stand. Consequently, the production costs and production time are both reduced.
Though the tilt-swivel stand of
FIG. 11
has the above advantages, it has been found disadvantageous in the following point.
As long as the protrusion
90
is located in the constant-width portion
81
b
of the groove
81
, the movable member
80
is prevented from coming off the non-illustrated base due to the fins
90
a
abutting on the movable member
80
. However, the protrusion
90
may be brought to the enlarged portion
81
a
of the groove
81
when the user tilts the CRT mounted on the movable member
80
too much. This unusual positioning of the protrusion
90
relative to the groove
81
is invisible to the user since an CRT is placed on the movable member
80
. Thus, unaware of the current situation, the user may try to move the CRT to a different location and lift it. However, with the stopping fins
90
a
located at the enlarged portion
81
a
of the groove, the non-illustrated base may come off the movable member
80
and may fall onto the desk.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been proposed under the circumstances described above, and its object is to provide a tilt-swivel stand which can be readily assembled and does not suffer from accidental detachment of the movable member from the base.
According to the present invention, there is provided a tilt-swivel stand including: a base member provided with a concave surface having a predetermined curvature; a movable member mounted on the base member and provided with a convex surface having a curvature equal to the curvature of the concave surface; and connecting means for connecting the base member to the movable member. The connecting means includes a protrusion and a guide groove which has a predetermined width. The protrusion includes a shank and an engaging portion which has a normal size greater than the width of the guide groove. The engaging portion is flexible enough to go through the guide groove.
With such an arrangement, the movable member is readily attached to the base member simply by pressing the protrusion into the guide groove. The flexible engaging portion is reduced in overall size as it is going through the guide groove, and then restores on its own to the original shape after passing by the guide groove. In this position, the engaging portion is caught by the member in which the guide groove is formed (that is, the movable member or base member), thereby holding together the movable member and the base member.
In the assembled state, the movable member is mounted on the base member, with the convex surface of the former held in sliding engagement with the concave surface of the latter. The guide groove into which the protrusion is inserted for restriction of movement is typically straight, thereby allowing the movable member to move in a vertical plane (that is, “tilt”) relative to the base member. How far the movable member can be tilted depends upon the length of the guide groove.
Though the tilting movement is restricted by the configuration of the guide groove, as stated above, basically the rotation of the protrusion relative to the guide groove is not limited by the geometry of the groove. This means that rotation of the protrusion relative to the guide groove can take place at any position in the groove.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shank of the protrusion includes a diametrically larger portion and a diametrically smaller portion. The diametrically larger portion is substantially equal in size to the width of the guide groove.
With such an arrangement, the protrusion is properly guided by the guide groove when the diametrically larger portion of the protrusion is held in the guide groove.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the protrusion is provided on the movable member, while the guide groove is provided on the base member.
Alternatively, the protrusion may be provided on the base member, while the guide groove may be provided on the movable member.
Preferably, the protrusion may have an anchor-like configuration. Specifically, the engaging portion may include a pair of engaging pieces which are non-parallel to each other. Each of the engaging pieces may be a generally r
Fujitsu Limited
Stodola Daniel P.
Tran Khoa
LandOfFree
Tilt swivel stand does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Tilt swivel stand, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Tilt swivel stand will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3151134