Locks – Special application – For control and machine elements
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-20
2002-06-11
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Locks
Special application
For control and machine elements
C070S232000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06401504
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to devices useful for securing any equipment or appliance having a threaded hole, and specifically to securing small portable electronic devices, such as, for example, personal digitial assistants or PDAs.
Expensive and small equipment, such as cameras and small electronic devices for example, often include no ready method or mechanism for attachment for securing the equipment. To secure the equipment, the owner may be expected to place it in a container of some sort which may be locked or otherwise secured.
There are also larger equipment such as printers, facsimile machines and scanners that similarly include no attachment mechanism for securing the items. However, an increasing number of items now include threaded holes that are open only to the outside of the equipment. Cameras, for example, have long included such threaded holes, which are intended to be used for mounting the camera on a stand or tripod.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a simple attachment device for securing portable equipment having an exposed threaded opening, such as a standard tripod mounting opening, for example. The device quickly and efficiently permits the attachment and detachment to a suitable portable device. A cable secures the attachment device to a second object other than the portable device, thereby inhibiting the unauthorized movement of the portable device further than the length of the cable.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, it includes an attachment device for a portable equipment having a housing including a first side and a second side generally orthogonal to the first side with an externally exposed threaded opening in the first side. The device includes an attachment connector having an attachment rod including threads complementary to the threaded opening wherein rotation of the attachment rod in an engaging direction mates the attachment rod to the threaded opening and rotation of the attachment rod in a disengaging direction detaches the attachment rod from the threaded opening; an obstructor, coupled to the attachment connector and extending, when in a locking mode, beside the second side of the housing to inhibit rotation of the attachment rod in the disengaging direction; and a localizer, coupled to the attachment connector, for attaching to an object other than to the portable equipment, to constrain movement of the portable equipment to within a limited distance of the object.
An advantage of the invention over other methods is its relative ease of use and convenience to the user.
Reference to the remaining portions of the specification, including the drawing and claims, will realize other features and advantages of the present invention. Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with respect to the accompanying drawing. In the drawing, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4945738 (1990-08-01), Blair et al.
patent: 5398530 (1995-03-01), Derman
Derman Jay S.
Zeren Greg
Acco Brands Inc.
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Marc-Coleman Marthe Y.
McCutchen Doyle Brown & Enersen LLP
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