Abstract:
The present invention is to provide a holder for clamping and wirelessly triggering a mobile terminal device, which includes a fixed portion, a slidable portion having one end movably inserted in the fixed portion such that a clamping space is formed therebetween and serves to receive the mobile terminal device clamped therein, an elastic portion mounted in the fixed portion and corresponding to the slidable portion so as to apply a force to the slidable portion for adjusting the clamping space, and a controller having one side movably mounted to the fixed portion and a button provided on the top side thereof. When wireless connection is established between the controller and the mobile terminal device, a press on the button causes the controller to generate a control signal, send the control signal to the mobile terminal device, and thereby trigger the mobile terminal device to perform a corresponding procedure.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a holder, more particular to a holder for clamping and wirelessly triggering a mobile terminal device, which includes a fixed portion, a slidable portion having one end movably inserted in the fixed portion such that a clamping space is formed therebetween and serves to receive the mobile terminal device clamped therein, an elastic portion mounted in the fixed portion and corresponding to the slidable portion so as to apply a force to the slidable portion for adjusting the clamping space, and a controller having one side movably mounted to the fixed portion and a button provided on the top side thereof. When wireless connection is established between the controller and the mobile terminal device, a press on the button causes the controller to generate a control signal, send the control signal to the mobile terminal device, and thereby trigger the mobile terminal device to perform a corresponding procedure (e.g., taking a picture). 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    With the advancement of the electronics industry, mobile terminal devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have been continually improved in portability and functionality. For example, smartphones nowadays are practically a basic means of communication, and in order to secure a position in the market, smartphone manufacturers have spared no effort in responding to consumers&#39; pursuit for change and novelty. Not only are smartphones made thinner and lighter to meet the trend for compactness, but also a variety of functions in addition to making phone calls and sending/receiving text messages are incorporated into a single handset. Such additional functions (e.g., taking pictures, video recording, Internet connection, games, and receiving/playing radio broadcasts) are intended to win consumers&#39; favor by substantially enhancing convenience of use, allowing a person to carry only one smartphone with them instead of a number of different electronic devices. 
         [0003]    Of the various functions of smartphones, picture taking is the most favored. The main reason for this lies in the ever-increasing storage capacity and the constantly upgraded lens quality of smartphones. In fact, the lens specifications of smartphones are even superior to those of most consumer cameras. As a result, consumer cameras are being replaced by smartphones. Apart from that, the wide availability of wireless networks and the prevalence of social networking websites have enabled smartphone users to take pictures of whatever in their daily lives and upload the pictures to social networking websites in order to share the pictures with family and friends. In particular, today&#39;s smartphones are typically provided with a front camera so that, besides taking pictures of scenery and food, smartphone users can include themselves in the pictures taken. This has given rise to the global trend of taking pictures of oneself—a phenomenon so prominent that the word “selfie”, meaning a photograph that one takes of oneself, was chosen by Oxford Dictionaries in 2013 as Word of the Year. 
         [0004]    Selfies add to the fun of life and also serve as a record of life. As the screen of a smartphone can instantaneously display a picture just taken, smartphone users can easily capture their confident looks with the built-in camera and control the feel of their selfies. In view of this, picturing-taking application software and auxiliary equipment were developed, with the hope of creating new markets out of the selfie phenomenon. Generally speaking, one who tries to take a selfie with a smartphone would extend the smartphone-holding hand as far as possible to increase the field of view of the phone camera and thereby include more scenery in the picture. Due to the limited length of the arm, however, the smartphone user&#39;s face tends to occupy so large an area of the picture that much of the scenery behind the user is left out. To solve this problem, a selfie taking device  1  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  was designed whereby one who wishes to take a selfie with a smartphone  2  can put the smartphone  2  as far away as possible. The selfie taking device  1  includes a clamping base  11 , a holding stick  13 , and a remote control  15  (see  FIG. 2 ). The clamping base  11  is provided with a positioning table  111  and a sliding rack  113 . Two extension tubes  112  extend upward from the top side, and are adjacent to the rear, of the positioning table  111 . The sliding rack  113  is of an inverted U shape and has two bottom ends respectively and movably inserted in the extension tubes  112  such that a clamping space  114  is formed between the top end of the sliding rack  113  and the top side of the positioning table  111 . The sliding rack  113  can slide upward and downward along the extension tubes  112  to change the height of the clamping space  114  (as indicated by the dashed lines in  FIG. 2 ). 
         [0005]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the holding stick  13  has one end locked to the bottom side of the positioning table  111 . A user can hold any other part of the holding stick  13  as needed to change the distance of the clamping base  11  from the user. Once the smartphone  2  is placed in the clamping space  114  and fixed to the clamping base  11  via the sliding rack  113 , the user can keep the smartphone  2  a great distance away simply by holding the holding stick  13 . In the meantime, the image to be taken by the smartphone  2  can also be adjusted with ease. Since the user holding the holding stick  13  cannot reach, let alone press, the buttons on the smartphone  2 , it is necessary to connect the remote control  15  to the smartphone  2  in advance so that the smartphone  2  can be controlled by the remote control  15  to take pictures. 
         [0006]    Through long-term observation, however, the applicant has found certain drawbacks of the selfie taking device  1  during use, as stated below with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . First of all, the fact that the remote control  15  is a separate component requires the user to store the clamping base  11  and the remote control  15  separately while carrying the selfie taking device  1  around. If the user forgets to carry the remote control  15  with him or her, the selfie taking device  1  simply cannot be used to take selfies. Furthermore, when a close-up selfie is desired, the distance required between the smartphone  2  and the user is generally no greater than the arm&#39;s length, but with the clamping base  11  pressed against the smartphone  2 , it is difficult for the user to hold the clamping base  11 . The user therefore has to detach the smartphone  2  from the clamping base  11  before taking the close-up, which is rather inconvenient. Last but not least, the smartphone  2  is designed to be pressed against the clamping base  11  by the sliding rack  113  alone. So, if the user fails to fix the smartphone  2  properly to the clamping base  11 , the smartphone  2  may fall off the clamping base  11  or even get damaged when the holding stick  13  is held at an angle. 
         [0007]    In light of the various drawbacks of the selfie taking device  1  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a new product which is based on the principle of user-friendliness in industrial design and which makes it easier to take selfies with a mobile terminal device such as a smartphone or tablet computer is highly desired by consumers and manufacturers alike. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    To effectively overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the existing selfie taking devices, the inventor of the present invention incorporated years of practical experience into repeated experiments and tests and finally succeeded in developing a holder for clamping and wirelessly triggering a mobile terminal device. 
         [0009]    It is an objective of the present invention to provide a holder for clamping and wirelessly triggering a mobile terminal device so that a user can operate the mobile terminal device conveniently with the holder. The holder includes a fixed portion, a slidable portion, an elastic portion, and a controller. The fixed portion is formed with a vertically extending extension base, and the bottom edge of the extension base is formed with a forwardly extending first clamping portion. The extension base and the first clamping portion are connected together as a single unit. The slidable portion is formed with a vertically extending extension plate, and the top edge of the extension plate is formed with a forwardly extending second clamping portion. The extension plate and the second clamping portion are connected together as a single unit. The bottom end of the extension plate is movably inserted in the extension base so that the extension plate can slide upward and downward with respect to the extension base. The second clamping portion corresponds to the first clamping portion such that a clamping space is formed between the clamping portions. The clamping space serves to receive a mobile terminal device clamped therein. The elastic portion includes a mounting base and an elastic restoring member. The mounting base is mounted in the fixed portion and corresponds to the bottom edge of the extension base. The elastic restoring member has one end connected to the mounting base and another end connected to the extension plate at a position adjacent to the bottom end of the extension plate. When a force is applied to the slidable portion to displace the slidable portion away from the fixed portion, the clamping space between the second clamping portion and the first clamping portion expands so as to receive the mobile terminal device. Once the force is removed, the elastic restoring member generates a restoring force acting on the extension plate, and the slidable portion is forced toward the fixed portion by the restoring force until the mobile terminal device is securely clamped between the first clamping portion and the second clamping portion, or more particularly until the first clamping portion and the second clamping portion are pressed against the two corresponding sides of the mobile terminal device respectively. The controller has one side movably mounted to the rear side of the extension base, and a button is provided on the top side of the controller. When wireless connection is established between the controller and the mobile terminal device, a press on the button causes the controller to generate a control signal, send the control signal to the mobile terminal device, and thereby trigger the mobile terminal device to perform a corresponding procedure (e.g., taking a picture). The user only has to adjust the slidable portion, and the clamping space can be easily enlarged or reduced to adapt to mobile terminal devices of different sizes. Moreover, the user can perform wireless remote control via the controller and thereby trigger the mobile terminal device to take pictures. Compared with the prior art devices, the present invention features increased convenience of use. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The above and other objectives as well as the technical features and effects of the present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  schematically shows a conventional selfie taking device; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  schematically shows how a conventional selfie taking device is used with a smartphone; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is an exploded front view of a holder according to the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is an exploded rear view of the holder shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is an assembled view of the holder shown in  FIG. 3 ; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  schematically shows how the holder in  FIG. 3  is used with a mobile terminal device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    The present invention provides a holder for clamping and wirelessly triggering a mobile terminal device. Please refer to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , in which the direction facing the lower left corner of  FIG. 3  is defined as the front direction, the direction facing the upper right corner of  FIG. 3  is defined as the rear direction, the direction facing the upper left corner of  FIG. 3  is defined as the leftward direction, the direction facing the lower right corner of  FIG. 3  is defined as the rightward direction, the direction facing the top of  FIG. 3  is defined as the upward direction, and the direction facing the bottom of  FIG. 3  is defined as the downward direction. The holder  3  in this embodiment includes a fixed portion  31 , a slidable portion  32 , an elastic portion  33 , and a controller  34 . The fixed portion  31  is formed with a vertically extending extension base  311 , and the extension base  311  has a bottom edge formed with a forwardly extending first clamping portion  312  and a rearwardly extending supporting portion  313 . The extension base  311 , the first clamping portion  312 , and the supporting portion  313  are connected together as a single unit. In addition, the top edge of the extension base  311  is concavely provided with a groove  314  which extends through the extension base  311 , and the rear side of the extension base  311  is protrudingly provided with two rails  315  which extend vertically from the top edge of the extension base  311  to a position adjacent to the joint between the extension base  311  and the supporting portion  313 . Moreover, the top side of the first clamping portion  312  is upwardly protrudingly provided with a first positioning block  3121  adjacent to the front of the first clamping portion  312 . In other embodiments of the present invention, however, the supporting portion  313  can be dispensed with, the number of the rails  315  can be adjusted to only one or more than two, or the first positioning block  3121  can be omitted, with a view to meeting production or design requirements. 
         [0018]    It should be pointed out that, in the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the fixed portion  31  is assembled from a first fixed base  31 A and a second fixed base  31 B. More specifically, the first fixed base  31 A and the second fixed base  31 B are put together vertically to form the first clamping portion  312  and the supporting portion  313 . In other embodiments of the present invention, however, the first fixed base  31 A and the second fixed base  31 B can be so designed that they are assembled along the front-rear direction, and in that case, the first fixed base  31 A is provided with the first clamping portion  312  while the second fixed base  31 B is provided with the supporting portion  313 . Alternatively, the first fixed base  31 A and the second fixed base  31 B can be so designed that they are assembled along the leftward-rightward direction, or the fixed portion  31  can be designed as a single integral unit. In short, the fixed portion  31  can be arbitrarily adjusted according to production, assembly, or design requirements. 
         [0019]    Referring again to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the slidable portion  32  is formed with a vertically extending extension plate  321 , and the top edge of the extension plate  321  is formed with a forwardly extending second clamping portion  322 . The extension plate  321  and the second clamping portion  322  are connected together as a single unit. Also, the bottom side of the second clamping portion  322  is downwardly protrudingly provided with a second positioning block  3221  adjacent to the front of the second clamping portion  322 . Once the slidable portion  32  is mounted to the fixed portion  31 , the bottom end of the extension plate  321  is movably inserted in the groove  314  so that the extension plate  321  can slide upward and downward along the groove  314 . Moreover, with the second clamping portion  322  corresponding to the first clamping portion  312 , a clamping space  310  (see  FIG. 5 ) is formed between the two clamping portions. In addition, the rear side of the second clamping portion  322  is protrudingly provided with two engaging blocks  323 , which respectively correspond to and have the same cross-sectional configuration as the rails  315 . Thus, when the extension plate  321  is fully inserted in the groove  314 , the bottom edge of the second clamping portion  322  is pressed against the top edge of the extension base  311 , and the bottom edges of the engaging blocks  323  are pressed against the top edges of the rails  315  respectively. In other embodiments of the present invention, however, it is also feasible to adjust the number of the engaging blocks  323  to only one or more than two or dispense with the second positioning block  3221 . The extension plate  321  and the extension base  311  can be connected by other means as well, i.e., without the groove  314  in the extension base  311 , provided that the extension plate  321  can slide upward and downward with respect to the extension base  311 . 
         [0020]    Referring back to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the elastic portion  33  includes a mounting base  331  and an elastic restoring member  332 . The mounting base  331  is mounted in the fixed portion  31  and corresponds to the bottom edge of the extension base  311 . In this embodiment, the mounting base  331  is provided between the first fixed base  31 A and the second fixed base  31 B and is therefore hidden from view. The elastic restoring member  332  has one end connected to the mounting base  331  and another end connected to the extension plate  321  at a position adjacent to the bottom edge of the extension plate  321 . The elastic restoring member  332  can be connected to the extension plate  321  by projection-recess engagement, riveting, or other fixing elements (e.g., screws). Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , when the user applies a force to the slidable portion  32  to displace it away from the fixed portion  31 , the clamping space  310  between the second clamping portion  322  and the first clamping portion  312  expands (see  FIG. 5 ), allowing the user to put a mobile terminal device  4  (e.g., a smartphone or tablet computer) in the clamping space  310 . Once the user stops applying the force (i.e., once the applied force is removed), the elastic restoring member  332  generates a restoring force acting on the extension plate  321 . The restoring force drives the slidable portion  32  toward the fixed portion  31  and thus reduces the clamping space  310 . As a result, with the first clamping portion  312  and the second clamping portion  322  pressing against the two corresponding sides of the mobile terminal device  4  respectively (see  FIG. 6 ), the mobile terminal device  4  is securely clamped between the clamping portions. When the holder  3  is tilted, the mobile terminal device  4  is blocked by the first positioning block  3121  and the second positioning block  3221  and hence kept from damage which may otherwise occurs if the mobile terminal device  4  separates from the holder  3  and falls out of the clamping space  310 . 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the controller  34  has one side provided with two rail grooves  341 . To mount the controller  34  to the slidable portion  32  and the fixed portion  31 , the engaging blocks  323  and the rails  315  are respectively and sequentially received in the rail grooves  341  such that the controller  34  is firmly mounted to the rear side of the extension base  311  and the rear side of the second clamping portion  322 . Once the extension plate  321  is fully inserted in the groove  314 , the bottom side of the controller  34  is pressed against the top side of the supporting portion  313 . When a force is applied to the slidable portion  32  to displace it away from the fixed portion  31 , the controller  34  is simultaneously driven away from the supporting portion  313  by the engaging blocks  323 . In other embodiments of the present invention, however, the controller  34  can be provided with only one or more than two rail grooves  341 , or the controller  34  can be so designed that its bottom side is not pressed against the top side of the supporting portion  313  when the extension plate  321  is fully inserted in the groove  314 . If the fixed portion  31  lacks the supporting portion  313 , the engaging blocks  323  will drive the controller  34  away from the bottom of the extension base  311  as the slidable portion  32  is displaced away from the fixed portion  31 . 
         [0022]    Referring again to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the controller  34  is configured to make wireless connection with the mobile terminal device  4  (as shown in  FIG. 6 ), wherein the wireless connection can be made according to various wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, WiFi, or Near Field Communication (NFC). The top side of the controller  34  is provided with a button  342 . When wireless connection is established between the controller  34  and the mobile terminal device  4 , pressing the button  342  results in the controller  34  generating a control signal and sending the control signal to the mobile terminal device  4 , thus triggering the mobile terminal device  4  to perform a corresponding procedure (e.g., taking a picture). Therefore, when the holder  3  together with the mobile terminal device  4  is to be placed at a distance, or when the user wishes to use a holding stick (by connecting one end of the holding stick to the bottom of the fixed portion  31  and holding the other end of the holding stick), the controller  34  can be detached so that, by pressing the button  342  on the controller  34 , the mobile terminal device  4  can be triggered via wireless remote control to take pictures. Furthermore, referring to  FIG. 6 , the relatively large volume of the controller  34  leads to a large holding space L 1  between the mobile terminal device  4  and the controller  34  once the mobile terminal device  4  is mounted to the holder  3 . Hence, when it is desired to take pictures with the mobile terminal device  4  within the reach of the arm, the smartphone user can hold the controller  34  directly and conveniently in order to keep the mobile terminal device  4  stable during the picture taking process. It should be pointed out that, referring back to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the controller  34  in other embodiments of the present invention can be so designed that it is movably provided on its own at the rear side of the extension base  311 , cannot be driven by the slidable portion  32 , but can be removed or installed at will according to practical needs. For example, the engaging blocks  323  on the second clamping portion  322  can be dispensed with so that the slidable portion  32  is unable to drive the controller  34  when displaced. Or the rail grooves  341  can be open at both ends in order for the engaging blocks  323  to slide out of the rail grooves  341 . In other embodiments of the present invention, it is also feasible to replace the rails  315  of the fixed portion  31 , the engaging blocks  323  of the second clamping portion  322 , and the rail grooves  341  of the controller  34  with a different structural design, such as an engaging arrangement capable of mounting the controller  34  to the rear side of the extension base  311 . 
         [0023]    The above-mentioned descriptions represent merely the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, without any intention to limit the scope of the present disclosure thereto. Various equivalent changes, alternations or modifications based on the claims of present disclosure are all consequently viewed as being embraced by the scope of the present disclosure.