Abstract:
A portable video display unit is adapted for use with various electronic video-processing devices, such as video game consoles and video players (DVD players). The video display unit includes a base member adapted for removably attaching the video display unit to the electronic video processing device. The base member includes a locking device to securely affix the video display to the game console and permit portability while attached. A display screen is pivotally mounted to the base member for pivoting between a stowed position and a deployed position which is viewable by a user of the electronic video processing device.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation in part application of U.S. Ser. No. 10/237,054 filed on Sep. 9, 2002 entitled Video Display Unit for Video Game Console and is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to consumer electronics, and more particularly to a detachable, compact screen apparatus for an electronic video-processing device, such as a video game console.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0005]    Various electronic video-processing devices, such as video game consoles, video players (DVD players or VCRs), etc., are becoming more and more popular. Usually, they include a box-shaped casing provided with as plurality of female plugs for interconnecting to two or more respective control units, a TV monitor and a power adapter. Typically, the electronic video-processing devices are sold separately, without a dedicated display screen, and are adapted to work with conventional TV monitors. Therefore, when children without a TV in their rooms are playing video games or using the video player, they are tying family TV monitors, precluding other household members from watching regular TV shows.  
           [0006]    Thus, there is a need for a compact, portable video screen unit adapted to be used with the electronic video-processing devices, in particular with the video game consoles, such as video game systems manufactured by SONY®, such as PlayStation®2, NINTENDO®, such as GAMECUBE, or Microsoft® such as the X-Box.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The present invention provides a novel, portable video display unit for various electronic video-processing devices, especially for video game consoles and video players.  
           [0008]    In accordance with the present invention, the portable video screen unit is specifically adapted to be used with the X-Box® video game console manufactured by Microsoft Corp. and comprises a base member adapted to be removably attached to the X-Box® video game console, and a video display member pivotably mounted on the base member for rotation between a stowed position and a deployed position.  
           [0009]    The base member includes a substantially flat base panel, and a screen support member integrally formed with and upwardly extending from a top surface of the base panel adjacent to a rear edge thereof and extending substantially parallel thereto. The screen support member has a front control panel provided with a power switch, a volume control, a screen brightness control, a screen color control, and an earphone plug socket, and a rear panel provided with an S-video input socket, a video input socket, two audio input sockets, a composite audio/video output, and a socket for a DC/AC adapter.  
           [0010]    The base panel of the base member further includes a locking attachment device provided for removably securing the video display unit to the video game console. The screen mounting device for the X-Box® video game console includes a guide flange, a mounting flange having tab members, and a rear flange having rear locking tabs.  
           [0011]    The guide flange extends downwardly from a bottom surface of the base panel substantially perpendicularly thereto and is formed along a side edge thereof. The guide flange frictionally engages the side face of the casing of the video game console.  
           [0012]    The mounting flange extends downwardly from the bottom surface of the base panel substantially perpendicularly thereto and is formed along the side edge thereof. The mounting flange of the present invention includes at least one mounting rib formed substantially complementary to grooves provided on a front side face of the casing of the video game console. Preferably, the mounting rib is formed of two front tab members adapted to appropriately position the base panel of the video display unit relative to the front face of the casing of the X-Box® video game console. The front tab members are formed at the opposite ends of the front edge of the base panel and extend inwardly to engage a grooved recess formed in the front of the video console.  
           [0013]    Preferably, the base panel is homogeneously formed of strong and durable plastic material as a unitary body integrally with the tab members, thus alleviating the cost of assembling multiple components and simplifying its manufacture.  
           [0014]    The rear locking tab is pivotally mounted at the rear edge of the base panel for rotation in a plane substantially perpendicular to the rear edge. The locking tab is of generally L-shaped configuration and has a locking mechanism adapted to lock the position of the locking tab once engaged with the video game console. The locking tab releasably latches the video display unit onto the video game console in a discrete predetermined position with respect thereto.  
           [0015]    The video display member includes a hollow display casing pivotally mounted to the screen support member. The display casing houses a display screen. Preferably, the display screen is a substantially flat liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. The display casing further houses a pair of built-in stereo speakers located on both sides of the LCD screen for providing a stereo sound. The video display member can flip up and tilt to the preference of the player to view the screen in the deployed position, or fold down on top of the flat base panel of the base member when not in use for easy storage in the stowed position.  
           [0016]    In use, the video display unit is attached to the video game console by sliding the base panel over the top surface of the casing from the front face to the rear face thereof so that mounting tabs slide into the grooved recesses provided on front side of he console. As the front edge of the base panel aligns to the front face of the console, the mounting tabs slide into the grooves provided on the front face of the console to engage the front face of the console thus limiting forward movement of the base panel relative to the console. Then, the locking tab is rotated downward from its upward stowed position so that it is disposed within one of the horizontal grooves provided on the rear face of the console. The locking member is then displaced to prevent rotation of the locking tab thereby firmly securing the display device to the video game console.  
           [0017]    Therefore, the video screen unit in accordance with the present invention represents a novel arrangement that is compact and portable and adapted to be conveniently used with the electronic video-processing devices, in particular with the X-Box video game consoles manufactured by Microsoft Corp. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]    Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is a front view of the audio and video accessory for an electronic device according to the present invention.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 is a rear view of the audio and video accessory for an electronic device of FIG. 1.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 is a left side view of the audio and video accessory for an electronic device of FIG. 1.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 is a right side view of the audio and video accessory for an electronic device of FIG. 1.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the audio and video accessory for an electronic device of FIG. 1.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 6 is a top view of the audio and video accessory for an electronic device of FIG. 1.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 7 is a front and left perspective view of the audio and video accessory for an electronic device according to the present invention.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a portable video display unit in accordance with the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention in a stowed position;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a portable video display unit secured to a game console in accordance with the present invention in a open position;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 10 is a rear of the video display unit of the present invention secured to the video game console;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 11 is an isolated view of the locking mechanism of the game screen prior to locking engagement with the console.  
         [0030]    FIGS.  12 - 13  are partial sectional views taken along line  12 - 12  of FIG. 11 with the locking mechanism in different configurations during assembly;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 15 is an isolated partial sectional view taken along line  15 - 15  of FIG. 9. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0032]    The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with the reference to accompanying drawings.  
         [0033]    FIGS.  1 - 8  of the drawings illustrates the video display unit in accordance with the present invention, generally indicated at  10 . The video display unit  10  comprises a base member  12  adapted to be removably attached to an electronic video processing device  2 , such as a conventional video game console, and a video display member  40  pivotably mounted on the base member  12 . An example of a video game consoles include a video game system manufactured by Microsoft known as the X-Box. However, it is to be understood that while the present invention is particularly described and suited for use with the X-Box video game consoles, the present invention is not so limited to this particular device.  
         [0034]    The present invention is illustrated in FIGS.  1 - 8 . The typical X-Box® video game console, generally indicated at  2  and illustrated in FIGS.  9 - 11 , includes a substantially box-like casing  3  having a top surface and a bottom surface, a front face  4   f , a rear face  4   r , and opposite side faces  4   c  and  4   d . The rear face  4   r  of the casing  3  of the X-Box® is provided with a plurality of alternating, substantially horizontally extending grooves and ribs  5 ′ and  5 ″ respectively. The front face  4   f  has at least one horizontal groove  6 , as illustrated in FIGS. 9, 15.  
         [0035]    The base member  12  includes a substantially flat base panel  14  having a top surface  15   a  and a bottom surface  15   b , a front edge  15   f , a rear edge  15   r , and opposite side edges  15   c  and  15   d . The base member  12  further includes a screen support member  16  integrally formed with and upwardly extending from the top surface  15   a  of the base panel  14  adjacent to the rear edge  15   r  and extending substantially parallel thereto, as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 8 and  9 . The screen support member  16  is adapted for pivotally supporting the video display member  40  between a stowed position (shown in FIG. 7) and a deployed position (shown in FIG. 8).  
         [0036]    The display member has a front control panel  17  having for example a power switch  52 , a volume control  53 , treble control  53   a , bass control  53   b  a screen brightness control  54 , a screen color control  56 , and earphone plug sockets  58 . The rear panel of base member  15   r  is provided with an S-video input socket  60 , a video input socket  62 , two audio input sockets  64 , an audio/video input  65  output  66 , and a socket  68  for a DC/AC adapter (not shown). The sockets  60 ,  62 ,  64  and  66  define a screen electrical interface adapted to be operably connected to an electrical interface of the X-Box® video game console and communicate electrical signals there between. Power indicator light  59  (LED) is also provided which illuminates when power is turned on.  
         [0037]    The base panel  14  of the base member  12  further includes a locking attachment device provided for removably securing the video display unit  10  to the video game console  2 . The attachment device for the X-Box® video game console  2  includes a guide flange  22  which substantially circumscribes a perimeter of a top portion of the game console  2 . A mounting rib  24 , extending inwardly from an inner surface of the front face  15   f  of the guide flange, engages one of two horizontal grooves  6  formed in the front surface  4   f  of the gaming console. (See FIGS. 15 and 5.)  
         [0038]    Preferably, the base panel  14  is Homogeneously formed of strong and durable plastic material as a unitary body integrally with the guide flange  22  and mounting ribs  24  as a single part plastic molding, thus alleviating the cost of assembling multiple components and simplifying its manufacture.  
         [0039]    As illustrated in FIGS.  10 - 14 , the rear locking tab  28  is pivotally mounted on the rear surface  15   r  of the base panel  14  for rotation in a plane substantially perpendicular to the rear surface  15   r . The locking tab  28  has a projection  29  disposed within a horizontal groove  29 ′ (shown in FIGS.  12 - 14 ) provided on the rear face  4   r  of the casing  3  of the X-Box® or other video gaming console. The locking tab  28  releasably locks the video display unit  10  onto the video game console  2  in a discrete predetermined position with respect thereto. When the locking tab is in a locking position (FIG. 14), the engagement of the mounting rib  24  within groove  6  together with the guide flange circumscribing the top of the console  3  and the projection engaging groove  29 ′, the video display unit is securely fashioned to the console thereby providing a complete portable gaming unit.  
         [0040]    In order to lock the locking tab in the locking position, a movable locking member  40  is provided prevent relative rotation of the locking tab  28  relative to the rear surface  15   r . A T-shaped hook member  41  is slidably mounted to the locking tab  28 . The hook member  41  is shaped so that a wider portion  43  is dimensioned to fit within a wider portion  53  of an opening  51  but larger than a narrow portion  55  the opening  55  in the rear surface  15   r . A narrow portion  45  of the hook member is dimensioned to fit within the narrow portion  55  of the opening  51 . Operation of the locking member is simple. The locking tab is rotated downward as seen from FIGS.  12 - 13 . The locking member is inserted within the wider portion  53  of the opening  51 . The locking member is simply slid downward such that the wide portion  43  of the hook member prevents rotation of the locking tab by interference between the wide portion  43  of the hook member with the narrow portion  55  of the opening  51 . Thus because the flange  22  circumscribes the periphery of the video console  2  preventing relative lateral displacement there between, and the locking tab, and projection together with the mounting rib prevent vertical displacement, the video display  10  is firmly secured to the gaming console  3  thus providing a complete portable video gaming and audio video unit.  
         [0041]    The video display member  40  includes a hollow display casing made of, preferably, appropriate plastic material. The display casing is pivotally mounted to the screen support member  16  and has a front, viewing surface and a back surface. The display casing houses a display screen  48  viewable on the viewing surface. Preferably, the display screen  48  is a substantially flat liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. The display casing further houses a pair of built-in stereo speakers  70  located on both sides of the LCD screen  48  for providing a stereo sound. Also, a plurality of elastic pad members  61  are provided on the viewing surface of the display casing adapted to provide a small clearance between the video display member  40  and the base panel  14  when the video display unit  10  is in the stowed position.  
         [0042]    In use, the video display unit  10  is attached to the casing  3  of the video game console  2  by sliding the base panel  14  over the top surface  4   t  of the casing  3  so that the guide flange  22  engages the periphery of the console  2 , and the mounting ribs slide into and engage grooves  6 . As the front edge  15   f  of the base panel  14  aligns to the front face  4   f  of the casing  3 , the mounting rib  23  of the guide slides into the grooves  6  provided on the front face  4   f  of the casing  3 , thus limiting forward movement of the base panel  14  relative to the casing  3 . Then, the locking tab  28  is rotated downward from its upward stowed position so that the projection  29  engages groove  29 ′ on the rear face  4   r  of the casing  3 , as illustrated in FIGS.  12 - 14 . The locking member is simply slid downward to prevent the locking tab  28  from swinging out of position as illustrated in FIG. 14.  
         [0043]    While the foregoing invention has been shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those possessing skill in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example it is preferred to form the adjustment collars  11   a ,  11   b  and locking collars out of steel. However, other materials of sufficient strength may be employed.