Abstract:
Described is an arrangement stabilizing a hand-held portable electronic device. The device includes an integral support on which the device rests when placed on a work surface. The arrangement has a stabilizing member including a work surface contacting base and a coupling mechanism securing the stabilizing member to the device in a support configuration. When in the support configuration, a width of the base is greater than that of the integral support. The coupling mechanism is releasable to allow the stabilizing member to move to a stowed configuration. When in the stowed configuration, a profile of the device is reduced in comparison with that in the support configuration.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     Over time, mobile computing devices have become more heavily relied on by businesses and are being used in an increasing number of applications. Users of these devices often use them, in certain situations, while held in one or both hands and, in other situations, while resting the device on a table or a desk. When not in use, it is often desirable to store such a device in a holster or other holder on the user&#39;s body. These devices have increasingly been designed ergonomically to increase their ease, comfort and efficiency of use. However, the irregular shapes dictated by ergonomic concerns often cause these devices to rest unstably on flat surfaces.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention is directed to an arrangement stabilizing a hand-held portable electronic device, wherein the device includes an integral support on which the device rests when placed on a work surface, the arrangement comprising a stabilizing member including a work surface contacting base and a coupling mechanism securing the stabilizing member to the device in a support configuration wherein, when in the support configuration, a width of the base is greater than that of the integral support, the coupling mechanism being releasable to allow the stabilizing member to move to a stowed configuration wherein, when in the stowed configuration, a profile of the device is reduced in comparison with that in the support configuration. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0003]      FIG. 1  shows a front view of a mobile device for use in conjunction with a stabilizing arrangement according to the present invention;  
         [0004]      FIG. 2  shows a rear view of the mobile device of  FIG. 1  with no stabilizing arrangement according to the present invention attached thereto;  
         [0005]      FIG. 3  shows a side view of the mobile device of  FIG. 1  with no stabilizing arrangement attached thereto;  
         [0006]      FIG. 4  shows a top view of the mobile device of  FIG. 1  with no stabilizing arrangement attached thereto;  
         [0007]      FIG. 5  shows a side view of a stabilizing member of a stabilizing arrangement according to the invention;  
         [0008]      FIG. 6  shows a side view the mobile device of  FIG. 1  with the stabilizing member of  FIG. 5  attached thereto;  
         [0009]      FIG. 7  shows a top view of the mobile device of  FIG. 1  with the stabilizing member of  FIG. 5  attached thereto;  
         [0010]      FIG. 8  shows a rear view of the mobile device of  FIG. 1  with the stabilizing member of  FIG. 5  attached thereto;  
         [0011]      FIG. 9  shows a perspective view of a mobile device with a stabilizing arrangement according to a further embodiment of the invention in a stowed configuration;  
         [0012]      FIG. 10  shows a perspective view of the mobile device of  FIG. 9  with the stabilizing arrangement in a deployed configuration;  
         [0013]      FIG. 11  shows a perspective view of a mobile device with a stabilizing arrangement according to a still further embodiment of the invention in a stowed configuration; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 12  shows a perspective view of the mobile device of  FIG. 11  with the stabilizing arrangement in a deployed configuration. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0015]     The present invention may be further understood with reference to the following description and the appended drawings, wherein like elements are referred to with the same reference numerals. The present invention will be described in regard to a stabilizing arrangement for a scanning device. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the securing arrangement according to the present invention is equally suited for any irregularly shaped mobile electronic device such as, for example, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, blackberry, etc., which may be manipulated while hand-held and while resting on a flat surface.  
         [0016]     As shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , a scanner  10  includes a housing  12  with a keyboard  14  and a display  16  on a top thereof and a scanning actuator button  18  on a side thereof. A bottom of the scanner  10 , including a battery receiving chamber (not shown) closed by a cover  20  and a forward portion including an irregular projection  22  which encloses a scanning engine (not shown) and a light receiving apparatus (not shown). However, those skilled in the art will understand that the bottom of the scanner  10  may include any number of surface irregularities required to accommodate the components of the scanner  10  (e.g., a handstrap) or which are designed to address ergonomic considerations, for example, to enhance a user&#39;s grip on the scanner  10  when held in any of a variety of positions, etc. The projection  22  includes an integral stabilizing surface  24  extending thereacross with stabilizer mounting holes  26  formed on either side of the projection  22 , preferably adjacent to ends of the integral stabilizing surface  24 .  
         [0017]     To minimize the volume of the scanner  10  and to facilitate insertion into and removal of the scanner  10  from a holster or other holder, the size of the projection  22  is often minimized so that a width of the projection  22  and the stabilizing surface  24  are only minimally greater than that required for the scanning engine, the light receiving apparatus and an optical path to and from a window  28 . For this reason, a width w 1  of the integral stabilizing surface  24  is often considerably less than a width w 2  of the housing  12 . Thus, when the scanner  10  is placed on a table or desk, use of the keyboard  14  often involves the application of force to portions of the scanner  10  outside the width w 1  of the integral stabilizing surface. As would be understood by those skilled in art, this may cause the scanner  10  to roll or flip hindering data entry.  
         [0018]     To address this tendency, the present invention is directed to a stabilizing arrangement including a stabilizing member  30  which can be selectively mounted on the stabilizer mounting holes  26  of the scanner  10  to increase the lateral stability of the scanner  10  when placed on a surface such as a table for “desk-top” operation. Those skilled in the art will understand that existing features of the housing  12  may be utilized as the stabilizer mounting holes  26 . For example, the housings  12  of many such devices include holes which accommodate screws to couple front and back portions of the housing  12  to one another. These holes may be shaped and positioned to receive one or more mounting portions of a stabilizing member  30  thereby simplifying construction of the housing  12 .  
         [0019]     The stabilizing member  30  may be removed or moved to a stowed position to re-configure the scanner  10  for hand-held operation or for stowing in a holster or other holder, but the location of the stabilizer is carefully selected so as not to compromise or interfere with the ergonomics of the scanner  10 . Those skilled in the art will understand that the stabilizing member  30  may be tethered to a hand strap (not shown) or other component of the scanner  10  to facilitate locating and attaching the stabilizing member  30  to the housing  12 . According to this embodiment of the invention, the stabilizing member  30  includes a pair of mounting projections  32  which are sized and positioned to be frictionally received within the stabilizer mounting holes  26  of the scanner  10 . When the mounting projections  32  are fully inserted into the stabilizer mounting holes  26 , abutting surfaces  36  of the stabilizing member  30  contact a surface of the housing  12  of the scanner  10 . Furthermore, the stabilizing member  30  includes a recess  34  which has a shape complimenting a shape of an outer surface of the projection  22  so that, when the mounting projections are fully inserted into the stabilizer mounting holes  26 , an inner surface  38  of the stabilizing member  30  contacts the outer surface of the projection  22 . The stabilizing member  10  includes two feet  40  separated by an indentation  42 . When the mounting projections  32  are fully inserted into the stabilizer mounting holes  26 , the feet  40  form a stable base on which the forward end of the scanner  10  may rest upon a table, desk or other surface. The stabilizing member  30  is preferably formed of a thermoplastic elastomer.  
         [0020]     Those skilled in the art will understand that, although this embodiment shows the stabilizing member  30  extending substantially over the stabilizing surface  24  of the projection  22 , the stabilizing member  30  may be mounted at any point on the forward end of the scanner  10  so long as a height “H” of the stabilizing member  30  (e.g., a height of the stabilizing member from an outer surface of the feet  40  to the abutting surfaces  36 ) is sufficient that, when the stabilizing member  30  is mounted on the scanner  10 , the feet  40  raise the scanner  10  above a table or desk on which it is placed so that the conventional stabilizing surface  24  no longer contacts the table or desk. This height “H” is preferably chosen to achieve an angle of the keyboard  14  and the display  16  relative to the table or desk on which the scanner  10  is placed the same as or similar to that when the scanner  10  rests on the stabilizing surface  24 . However, those skilled in the art will understand that the placement and/or the height “H” of the stabilizing member  30  may be altered to achieve any desired angle of the scanner  10  relative to a table or desk on which it is placed.  
         [0021]     Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that, although the stabilizing member  30  is shown with two feet  40  which, when the stabilizing member  30  is mounted on the scanner  10 , extend immediately outside ends of the stabilizing surface  24 , the feet  40  may be located at any point beneath the scanner  10  so long as they extend further toward outer edges of the scanner  10  than the stabilizing surface  24  (i.e., a width “W” of the feet  40  is greater than a width “w1” of the stabilizing surface  24 ) and, when not in use for stabilizing the scanner  10 , do not interfere with the ergonomics of the scanner  10 . Any of a variety of modified arrangements of one or more feet  40  may be used to achieve the goals of the present invention. For example, a stabilizing member  30  may be made with a single foot  40  extending across an entire length thereof, or with an additional foot  40  extending from a center of the indentation  42 . It is necessary only that the outer ends of the stabilizing member  40  support the scanner  10  to maximize the stability of the scanner  10  when it is rested on a table or desk.  
         [0022]     In addition, as would be understood by those skilled in the art, the combination of the stabilizer mounting holes  26  and the mounting projections  32  may be replaced by any suitable coupling arrangement that allows the stabilizing member  30  to be quickly and securely secured in a deployed configuration and which may then be easily moved to a stowed configuration.  
         [0023]     For example, as shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , a stabilizing member  30  according to an alternate embodiment of the invention is coupled to the scanner  10  by hinges  50  for rotation between a stowed position (shown in  FIG. 9 ) in which the stabilizing member  30  is rotated flat against the housing  12  (or received within a recess in the housing  12 ) to minimize a profile of the scanner  10  and a deployed position (shown in  FIG. 10 ) in which feet  40  of the stabilizing member  30  are extended downward from a rear surface of the housing  12  in a position similar to that of the feet  40  of the arrangement described above, to support the scanner  10  on a table or desk. Similarly, the stabilizing member  30  of this embodiment may be replaced by one or more legs which, when in the stowed configuration, are entirely received within a recess in the housing  12  and which are exposed only when moved to the deployed configuration.  
         [0024]     Furthermore, according to still further embodiments of the invention, as shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 , a scanner  10  includes a stabilizing arrangement according to a still further embodiment of the invention includes an integral stabilizing surface  24  which, in a stowed configuration ( FIG. 11 ), has a width w 3  and which may be moved to a deployed configuration ( FIG. 12 ) in which its width is expanded to w 4 . Specifically, ends  52  of the integral stabilizing surface  24  include feet  54  which are slidably mounted within slots  56 . During hand held use, the width w 3  of the integral stabilizing surface  24  is minimized to address ergonomic concerns and to minimize a profile of the scanner  10  (e.g., to facilitate insertion of the scanner  10  into a holster). To configure the device for desktop use, a user pushes an actuator button  58  which operates any of a variety of known mechanisms to move the feet  54  to the deployed configuration. For example, pushing the actuator button  58  may release a latch holding the feet  54  in the stowed configuration against the bias of a spring (not shown) so that the feet  54  slide laterally outward through the slots  56  to the deployed configuration. When finished with desktop operation of the scanner  10 , the user may then manually move the feet  54  back to the stowed configuration, engaging the latch to secure the feet in this configuration.  
         [0025]     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the structure and the methodology of the present invention, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, those skilled in the art will understand that a stabilizing arrangement according to the present invention may include any number of stabilizing feet which may be attached to any portion of a housing a device to be stabilized so long as, in a stowed configuration, the stabilizing arrangement does not interfere with the ergonomic design of the device. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.