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Mobile Phone Patent Abstract
A mobile phone holder includes an upper casing member and a lower
casing member, each having an inside surface on which a plurality
of parallel-arranged guiding slots are formed. Two clamp members
each comprise a flat plate member to which a strip-like section
is fixed to be selectively slidably receivable within the slots
of the upper and lower casing members. Each of the clamp members
has resilient holding sections extending therefrom to define a space
for receiving and holding therein a mobile phone. The open end of
the casings allows the clamp members to be removed from the casing
members and re-inserted into another guiding slot so as to change
the distance between the clamp members and thus adapted to hold
mobile phones of different sizes.
Mobile Phone Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A mobile phone holder comprising: a body having a first opening
slot defined along a first longitudinal edge and a second opening
slot defined along a second longitudinal edge;
first and second clamp members, each of said clamp members comprising
a flat plate member having a strip-like section formed on an edge
and a first set of resilient holding members formed on an opposite
edge, each holding member of said first set being a substantially
vertical extension of said flat plate member and having a free holding
end;
a first group of sliding channels defined within said body, each
of said first group of sliding channels having an entry opening
formed at a lateral edge of said body and a closed end formed at
an opposite lateral edge of said body, wherein the strip-like section
of said first clamp member is slidably received within a selected
sliding channel of said first group and the first set of holding
members of said first clamp member extend through said first opening
slot out of said body with free holding ends being bent inward;
and
a second group of sliding channels defined within said body, each
of said second group of sliding channels having an entry opening
formed at said lateral edge of said body and a closed end formed
at said opposite lateral edge of said body, wherein the strip-like
section of said second clamp member is slidably received within
a selected sliding channel of said second group and the first set
of holding members of said second clamp member extend through said
second opening slot out of said body with free holding ends being
bent inward;
wherein the respective first sets of holding members of said first
and second clamp members face each other and form a space for receiving
and holding therein a mobile phone, the size of said space being
adjustable by selecting different sliding channels for said first
and second clamp members.
2. The mobile phone holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein each
of the first sets of holding members of said clamp members is configured
as an arc.
3. The mobile phone holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein a stop
plate is further provided on at least one of said clamp members
for positioning the mobile phone between said clamp members.
4. The mobile phone holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein each
of said clamp members further comprises a second set of resilient
holding members each having a free holding end being bent inward,
said second set of holding members being smaller than said first
set of holding members and the respective second sets of said first
and second clamp members facing each other and forming a space smaller
than the space formed by said first sets.
5. The mobile phone holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body
further has a notch formed on each of said first and second longitudinal
edges thereof.
6. The mobile phone holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body
further comprises an upper member and a lower member each having
an inside surface facing each other and a plurality of guiding slots
formed thereon in a substantially parallel manner, each of said
guiding slots having an open end and an opposite closed end, said
upper and lower members being configured to match each other for
defining the body and said first and second groups of sliding channels
being defined by said guiding slots.
7. The mobile phone holder as claimed in claim 6, wherein said
upper member is provided with dwell pins on the inside surface thereof
for being received within receiving elements formed on the inside
surface of said lower member.
8. The mobile phone holder as claimed in claim 6, wherein said
upper and lower members are provided with bolt holes through which
bolts are received for securing said upper and lower members together.
9. The mobile phone holder as claimed in claim 6, wherein each
of said upper and lower members has a raised wall formed on the
closed end of said guiding slots and a support tab formed on the
open end of said guiding slots, said raised wall and said support
tab separating said upper and lower members from each other along
said first and second longitudinal edges for defining said first
and second opening slots when said upper and lower members are secured
together.
10. The mobile phone holder as claimed in claim 6, wherein the
strip-like section of each of said clamp members comprises an upper
segment slidably receivable within the guiding slots of said upper
member and a lower segment slidably receivable within the guiding
slots of said lower member.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a mobile phone holder
and in particular to an adjustable mobile phone holder.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Mobile phones have been widely used with increasing popularity
as a handy communication means. Due to the miniaturization of the
mobile phones, holders have been developed to hold the mobile phone
in position when not in use, especially for holding the mobile phone
inside a car. The currently available mobile phone holders can be
classified into two types, the fixed size type and the size adjustable
type. The fixed size type holders can only be used for a specific
size or even a particular model of mobile phones and thus several
obvious disadvantages are associated therewith. For example, such
a fixed size holder can be used with a given size of mobile phone
only and for the current market, there are a variety of different
models of mobile phones, it is very difficult for the holder manufacturers
to make so many kinds of different holders for it needs a substantial
facility set up cost and parts inventory. Further, since mobile
phones of new models are being developed everyday, mobile phone
holders that are not fit for the newly developed mobile phones would
soon lose their market competivity.
In addition, the mobile phones are usually powered by rechargeable
battery sets which may take different dimensions (thicknesses) for
different chemical composition that is filled in the battery sets.
In that case, a fixed size holder would not be capable to hold mobile
phones of a particular model using different battery sets that are
electrically compatible to the given model.
The size adjustable type holders, although being adjustable for
holding mobile phones of different sizes and models, require a complicated
mechanism to achieve the adjustability. Such a complicated mechanism
may sometimes malfunction and needs a substantial manufacturing
cost. Further, for the mobile phones that use battery set of great
thicknesses, the holding capability of the adjustable holder is
reduced.
Thus, it is desirable to have a mobile phone holder that is size
adjustable so as to fit for mobile phones of different sizes and
that is simple in structure so as to reduce the manufacturing cost
and to maintain the holding capability for mobile phones of different
sizes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide
a mobile phone holder that is size adjustable for holding mobile
phones of different sizes (widths).
It is another object of the present invention to provide a mobile
phone holder that is simple in structure so as to reduce the chance
of malfunction and to cut down the manufacturing cost, increasing
the market competivity.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mobile
phone holder which is provided with two sets of clipping members
so as to be fit for mobile phones using battery sets of different
sizes, thus having different overall thicknesses.
To achieve the above objects, this invention provides a mobile
phone holder comprising an upper casing member and a lower casing
member, each having an inside surface on which a plurality of parallel-arranged
guiding slots are formed. Two clamp members are provided, each comprising
a flat plate member to which a strip-like section is fixed to be
selectively slidably receivable within the slots of the upper and
lower casing members. Each of the clamp members has resilient holding
sections extending therefrom to define a space for receiving and
holding therein a mobile phone. The open end of the casings allows
the clamp members to be removed from the casing members and re-inserted
into another guiding slot so as to change the distance between the
clamp members and thus adapted to hold mobile phones of different
sizes.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention
will become more apparent from a consideration of the following
detailed description of a preferred embodiment, when read in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mobile phone holder constructed
in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the mobile phone holder
of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the upper casing of the mobile
phone holder of the present invention viewed from the underside
thereof;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the mobile phone holder
of the present invention; and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a mobile phone held in the
mobile phone holder of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, wherein a mobile phone holder constructed
in accordance with the present invention, generally designated with
the reference numeral 100, is shown, the mobile phone holder 100
comprises a body 90 defined by two longitudinal edges and two lateral
edges. The body 90 is constituted by an upper casing member 10 and
a lower casing member 20 to which two clamp members 30 and 40 are
location-adjustably mounted so as to define therebetween a distance
for receiving and holding therein a mobile phone 60 (see FIG. 5).
Further referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower casing member 20
comprises an inside surface facing the upper casing member 10, having
a plurality of guiding slots 22 formed thereon to be substantially
parallel with each other. Preferably, the guiding slots 22 are arranged
into two groups defining therebetween a central slot 29 preferably
with the two groups of guiding slots 22 symmetric to each other
with respect to the central slot 29.
Referring to FIG. 3, similar to the lower casing member 20, the
upper casing member 10 also has a plurality of guiding slots 12
formed on an inside surface that faces the lower casing member 20
and arranged in two groups defining therebetween a central slot
19. The two groups of guiding slots 12 are symmetric with respect
to the central slot 19 and opposite to the guiding slots 22 of the
lower casing member 20.
The upper and lower casing members 10 and 20 are configured to
match each other with the guiding slots 12 and 22 in alignment with
each other so as to define a plurality of sliding channels (see
FIG. 4). The upper and lower casing members 10 and 20 are provided
with an open end 121 or 221 on one of the lateral edges of the body
90 and an opposite closed end so as to define entry openings of
the sliding channels of the holder body 90.
The closed end of each of the upper and lower casing members 10
and 20 is provided with a raised wall 14 matching each other so
as to leave a gap between the matched longitudinal edges of the
upper and lower casing members 10 and 20, see FIG. 4. To maintain
the upper and lower casing members 10 and 20 to separate from each
other at the longitudinal edges, both the upper and lower casing
members 10 and 20 are provided with a support tab 28 on the inside
surface at the open end to match each other which, in combination
with the raised walls 14, provides a uniform opening slot extending
along each of the longitudinal edges of the body 90.
The upper casing member 10 is also provided with a plurality of
dwell pins 13, for example two in the embodiment illustrated, located
on the inside surface thereof and within the central slot 19 and
correspondingly, the lower casing member 20 has a plurality of receiving
elements 21 formed on the inside surface and within the central
slot 29 for receiving therein the dwell pins 13 so as to provide
a precise positioning of the upper casing member 10 relative to
the lower casing member 20. Bolt holes 131 and 211 may be provided
on the dwell pins 13 and the receiving elements 21 for receiving
therein bolts 50 to secure the upper and lower casing members 10
and 20 together, thus defining the body 90.
Each of the two clamp members 30 and 40 comprises a flat plate
member having a lateral edge on which a strip-like lower segment
32 or 42 and a strip-like upper segment 31 or 41 are formed which
are configured to be selectively slidably receivable within one
of the sliding channels of the body 90 defined by the guiding slots
12 and 22 of the upper and lower casing members, via the entry openings
defined by the open ends 121 and 221 of the upper and lower casing
member 30 and 40, with the flat plate member of the clamp members
30 and 40 sliding through the longitudinal edges opening slots of
the body 90. This is illustrated in FIG. 4. The selective engagement
of the strip-like segments 31, 32 and 41, 42 of the clamp members
30 and 40 with the sliding channels of the body 90 allows the clamp
members 30 and 40 to adjust their locations relative to the body
90 and thus change the distance between the clamp members 30 and
40 in which the mobile phone 60 is received. This provides the size
adjustability of the mobile phone holder 100 of the present invention.
The closed end of the upper and lower casing members 10 and 20,
together with the raised walls 14, define a stop for the sliding
movement of the clamp members 10 and 20 relative to the body 90.
Each of the clamp members 30 and 40 is provided with a plurality
of holding sections 33 or 43, for example two in the embodiment
illustrated, at a lateral edge opposite to the strip-like segments
31, 32 or 41, 42. The holding sections 33 or 43 have a root end
fixed to the flat plate member of the upper and lower casing members
30 or 40 in a substantially perpendicular manner so that the holding
sections 33 of the clamp member 30 are opposite to the corresponding
holding sections 43 of the clamp member 40 to define therebetween
the distance for receiving and holding the mobile phone 60. The
holding sections 33 and 43 of the clamp members 30 and 40 also have
a free end opposite to the root end and configured as an arc extending
toward each other so as to have the distance between the clamp members
30 and 40 gradually reduced from the largest value at the root end
of the holding sections 33 and 43 toward the smallest value at the
free end of the holding sections 33 and 43. The holding sections
33 and 43 are made resilient so that when cooperating with the reducing
distance between the holding sections 33 and 43 serve to tightly
clamp or hold the mobile phone 60 therebetween.
In addition to the holdings sections 33 and 43, each of the clamp
members 30 and 40 may be further provided with a plurality of second,
resilient holding sections 34 and 44, for example two in the embodiment
illustrated and in registry with the first holding sections 33 and
43 as shown. Each of the second holding sections 34 and 44 has a
root end fixed to the flat plate members of the clamp members 30
and 40 and a free end remote from the root end and configured as
an arc so that a distance between the second holding sections 34
and 44 of the two clamp members 30 and 40 is reduced from the smallest
value at the free end to the largest value at the root end.
Preferably, the second holding sections 34 and 44 are smaller in
size than the first holding sections 33 and 43 and thus the free
ends of the second holding sections 34 and 44 are located lower
than the free ends of the first holding sections 33 and 43 so as
to allow the free ends of the second holding sections 43 and 44
to be adapted to engage and hold a mobile phone of reduced thicknesses,
as compared to what can be held by the first holding sections 33
and 43.
A stop plate 35 may be provided on one end of at least one of the
clamp members, for example clamp member 30 as illustrated, for maintaining
the mobile phone 60 that is received between the clamp members 30
and 40 in position.
The longitudinal edges of the body 90 may be provided with a recess
or notch 11 for user's hand holding. Further, hanging or fastening
means, for example in the form of a hook 70 (FIG. 2) may be provided
on the lower casing member 20 for attaching the mobile phone holder
100 to an external holding member or device.
Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that various and
sundry modifications of the mobile phone holder of the present invention
may be made. Accordingly the embodiment illustrated and discussed
herein should be understood to be exemplary only in nature and the
scope of the instant invention should be limited only by that of
the following claims. |