Supporting apparatus for movably supporting an attachment apparatus relative to a basic apparatus

A supporting apparatus for moving an attachment apparatus, such as a display apparatus, relative to a basic apparatus, such as a printing apparatus, to a desired position for an operator. A vertical shaft for supporting the display apparatus can be shifted from an engaging position to a release position by the rocking operation of an operation member around its supporting shaft through a pivot pin projecting from the bottom portion of the vertical shaft. At the release position, the vertical shaft is allowed free rotation, which in turn sets the display apparatus to the desired swivel position. At the engaging position, a swivel positioning means is enabled so as to prevent the rotation of the vertical shaft, thus fixing the display apparatus at the set swivel position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a supporting apparatus which movably 
supports an attachment apparatus, such as a display apparatus for text 
editing, on a basic apparatus, such as a printing apparatus or a word 
processing apparatus or station, and more particularly, to a supporting 
apparatus which permits the attachment apparatus to be movable to the 
proper position for an operator relative to the basic apparatus. 
The supporting apparatus of this type has a structure as shown in FIG. 1 in 
which at attachment apparatus B (e.g., a display apparatus) is fastened to 
a basic apparatus A (e.g., a printing apparatus) by a supporting apparatus 
C. More specifically, a holder D is provided on one side of the rear 
portion of the printing apparatus A, and a vertical shaft or upstanding 
column F is fitted in the holder D in such a way as to be swivelable 
around the longitudinal axis X--X of the holder D. A horizontal swivel arm 
E, which supports at one end the display apparatus B, is fixed at its base 
section to the vertical shaft F. The display apparatus B can be moved to a 
proper position for the operator's view by swiveling the swivel arm E 
together with the vertical shaft F around the axis X--X. 
The prior art supporting apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,638 
to Scheibenpflug. 
According to the supporting apparatus with the above-described structure, 
holding the display apparatus B at the moved position depends on the 
friction between the vertical shaft F and the holder D. This friction 
therefore determines the swiveling position of the arm E. 
To allow the operator to smoothly move the display apparatus B to the 
desired position, the smaller the friction, the better the operation. 
However, the reduction in friction also decreases the force needed to 
secure the display apparatus B at the moved position. Accordingly, the 
display apparatus B is more likely to easily move around by a small force, 
such as the operator's accidental touch to the display apparatus B or by 
the possible vibration of the printing apparatus A in use. 
On the other hand, if the aforementioned friction is increased to more 
securely hold the display apparatus B at any moved position, the operator 
would need greater force to move the display apparatus B to a different 
position, thus hindering a smoother moving operation. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
With the above situation in mind, it is an object of this invention to 
solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional supporting 
apparatus and thus to provide a supporting apparatus which permits an 
attachment apparatus to be moved to any desired position at ease and to be 
secured at the moved position. 
This object is achieved by providing a supporting apparatus in which, when 
engaged with a vertical shaft for swivelably supporting the attachment 
apparatus around the axis of the vertical shaft, an operation member 
vertically shifts the vertical shaft between an engaging position and a 
release position; and when the vertical shaft is at the engaging position, 
swivel positioning means is enabled to swivel the attachment apparatus 
around the axis of the vertical shaft to a desired position and position 
the attachment apparatus there, and in order to move the attachment 
apparatus to a different position, the swivel positioning means is 
disabled by shifting the vertical shaft to the release position from the 
engaging position using the operation member. 
With the above structure, the attachment apparatus can be freely swiveled 
with a significantly small friction, and, once positioned at any position, 
the attachment apparatus can be securely held there by the swivel 
positioning means. This prevents the attachment apparatus from being 
undesirably moved around by the vibration of the basic apparatus in use 
(which is prominent when the basic apparatus is a printer) or by an 
operator's possible accidental touching of the attachment apparatus. 
The above structural feature also prevents the attachment apparatus from 
being undesirably swiveled from its secured position by the operator's 
touching of the attachment apparatus for its tilting or swiveling 
operation in the case where the attachment apparatus is mounted on a 
swivel arm through a tilt-swivel mechanism. 
According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, a pivot pin is 
provided at a bottom portion of the vertical shaft to be engageable with 
the operation member. The engaging end of the pivot pin has a hemispheric 
shape which permits the pivot pin to have a substantially pin contact with 
the operation member. The operation member is swivelable around its 
support shaft and has two arms, one engaged with the pivot pin and the 
other operable by the operator. 
With this arrangement, in the case where the vertical shaft is shifted up 
to the release position through the pivot pin by the rocking action of the 
operation member, the vertical shaft is supported by the engagement of the 
operation member with the pivot pin, thus allowing for a smoother 
swiveling operation of the attachment apparatus. 
According to another preferred embodiment, the operation member comprises 
an operation lever pivotally mounted on the fixed support shaft and a 
slider provided to be slidable in the lengthwise direction of the 
operation lever. When the operation member is swiveled, the slider is slid 
to an extraction position. 
With this arrangement, the operation section of the operation member, which 
is operated by the operator when needed, is normally held at a retraction 
position where it does not project outward from an outer cover for the 
vertical shaft and holder means. This prevents the operator from 
accidentally touching the operation section and improves the external 
artistic impression. Moreover, when the operation member is swiveled, the 
leverage of the operation member with the support shaft as its operational 
center is increased by sliding the slider to the extraction position, 
i.e., by effectively utilizing the principles of the lever, thus ensuring 
a smoother vertical movement of the vertical shaft.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The first embodiment of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 2 through 5. 
In FIG. 2, a supporting apparatus 10 to which this invention is directed is 
arranged at the rear end portion and the rear wall of a printing apparatus 
A which is the basic apparatus. The supporting apparatus 10 is mounted on 
the printing apparatus A by means of a rear frame 12 that is fixed to the 
printing apparatus A by a known coupling means. 
The rear frame 12 comprises a vertical frame portion 12a extending along 
the rear wall of the printing apparatus A, a bottom frame portion 12b 
extending rearward from the bottom of the vertical frame portion 12a, an 
upstanding frame portion 12c extending upward from the distal end of the 
bottom frame portion 12b, and a hooking ear 12d shaped into a hook and 
extending from a middle portion of the vertical frame portion 12a. 
The supporting apparatus 10 comprises a housing 14, which has attaching 
portions 14a, 14b and 14c projecting therefrom. The attaching portions 
14a, 14b and 14c are respectively fixed to the vertical frame portion 12a, 
hooking ear 12d and upstanding frame portion 12c of the rear frame 12 by 
means of bolts. The housing 14 is also provided with a pair of attaching 
portions 14d (see FIG. 4) which are bolted to a fitting 16 fixed to the 
printing apparatus. The bolting installation securely fixes the housing 14 
to the rear frame 12. The housing 14 is further provided with a pair of 
legs 14e projecting from the bottom thereof and a contacting portion 14f 
projecting from one side of the top portion of the housing. The legs 14e 
tightly contact the bottom frame portion 12b, while the contacting portion 
14f tightly contact the rear wall of the printing apparatus A, thus 
further securing the mounting of the housing 14 on the printing apparatus. 
The housing 14 and the attaching portions 14a-14d, legs 14e and contacting 
portion 14f are integrally formed of a light aluminum alloy material by a 
die casting method. 
The housing 14 is integrally formed with a holder 20 which holds a vertical 
shaft 18 in such a way that the vertical shaft is vertically shiftable 
along the vertical axis X--X thereof. The holder 20 has a vertical bore 22 
formed along the axis X--X through which the vertical shaft 18 is fitted, 
and a through hole 24 formed in the bottom of the holder. The vertical 
bore 22 has a bottom portion 22a having the same inner diameter over a 
predetermined length or height from the bottom of the holder 20, and its 
inner diameter becomes wider upward, providing a tapered shape. A step 28 
is formed between the upper portion of the tapered bore and the bottom 
portion of a bearing bore 26, which has a greater diameter than the upper 
portion of the tapered bore. 
The vertical shaft 18, which is fitted through the vertical bore 22, has a 
pivot pin 30 integrally provided at its lower portion and projecting 
therefrom. The pivot pin 30 projects downward through the through hole 24 
and has its distal end formed in a hemispheric shape to provide a pin 
contact with an operation member 32 that will be described later. 
The operation member 32 is swivelably supported on the leg pair 14e through 
a support shaft 34, and has two arms 32a and 32b. The arm 32a has an 
engaging portion to engage with the pivot pin 30 and is connected with a 
coil spring 36, which is also attached to the bottom frame portion 12b so 
as to urge the operation member 32 in one direction. The other arm 32b is 
provided with a grip which an operator depresses in the arrow direction 
when needed. 
The operation member 32 is normally held at the illustrated original 
position against the force of the spring 36 by a proper stopper (not 
shown). At this original position, the engaging portion of the arm 32a 
lightly contacts the pivot pin 30 so as not to push up the vertical shaft 
18 above the descended position or the engaging position indicated by the 
solid line in FIG.2. 
When the operation member 32 is rotated, by the opeator, couterclockwise as 
indicated by the arrow from the original position to the depressed 
position indicated by the chain line, against the force of the spring 36, 
the vertical shaft 18 is shifted up via the pivot pin 30 by a height h 
from the descended position or the engaging position to the ascended 
position or the release position. During the shifting, the vertical shaft 
18 is guided by the bottom portion 22a having the same diameter throughout 
its height. 
The top of the holder 20 is formed with a plurality of engaging recess 
portions 38 for shaft positioning. An engaging pin 40, which corresponds 
to these engaging recess portions 38, is forced in a pin hole 42 formed in 
a radial direction of the vertical shaft 18 so as to be fixed thereto, and 
has its one end projecting to engage with the engaging recess portions 38. 
The engaging recess portions 38 and the engaging pin 40 constitute swivel 
positioning means to position the vertical shaft 18 to a swivel position 
around the axis X--X. 
A taper-shaped shaft cover 44, which is formed of a synthetic resin, has a 
lower portion 44a fixedly fitted over the vertical shaft 18 and is shifted 
upward or downward together with the vertical shaft. The pin 40 projects 
outside through the lower portion 44a. The lower portion 44a engages with 
the step 28 to be in a rest state when the vertical shaft 18 is at the 
descended or engaging position. 
Reference numeral 46 denotes an outer cover for covering the rear frame 12 
and the holder 20. This outer cover 46 is mounted on the printing 
apparatus A by a proper attaching means (not shown). The operation section 
32b of the operation member 32 is not covered by the cover 46 so that it 
is easily and externally accessed by the operator. 
In FIG. 3, a swivel arm 48 is fixed at the base portion to the top of the 
vertial shaft 18, and its other end or free end extends in the horizontal 
direction perpendicular to the vertical shaft 18 and supports a display 
apparatus B as the attachment apparatus, indicated by the broken line, 
through a tilt-swivel mechanism 50. Consequently, the display apparatus B 
can be swiveled with the swivel arm 48 around the axis X--X of the 
vertical shaft 18. The tilt-swivel mechanism 50 causes the display 
apparatus B to be tilted or swiveled relative to the arm 48. This type of 
tilt-swivel mechanism is well known, as disclosed in the aforementioned 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,638. 
The swivel arm 48 has an arm frame 52 made of a cylindrical square metal 
pipe and an arm cover 54 made of a synthetic resin. 
The top portion of the vertical shaft 18 is fitted through top and bottom 
fit holes 56 and 58 which are formed at the proximal end of the arm frame 
52 and are rigidly mounted on the frame 52 by tightening a nut 60 a screw 
end portion 18a. Therefore, the swivel arm 48 is swivelable together with 
the display apparatus B with the vertical shaft 18 around the axis X--X, 
and is also movable vertically along the axis X--X. 
As shown in FIG. 4, with the contacting portion 14f of the housing 14 
contacting the rear wall of the basic apparatus A, the supporting 
apparatus 10 has a symmetrical structure about the perpendicular line P, 
which passes through the center S of the vertical shaft 18 and extends to 
the rear wall of the basic apparatus A. 
In this embodiment, the engaging recess portions 38 provided on the top 
portion of the holder 20 are arranged in such a manner that a total of six 
recess portions are symmetrical with respect to the center line P, three 
on one side of the line facing the remaining three on the opposite side. 
The pin 40 is slectively engageable with an arbitrary one of the six 
recess portions 38 positioned at a to f; the pin 40 is engaged with the 
recess portion 38 at position c in FIG. 4. 
As shown in FIG. 5, the operation member 32 is designed such that the arm 
32a, which receives the pin 30 of the vertical shaft 18, is supported by 
the support shaft 32 at the U-shaped portion of the pair of legs 32c and 
is bridged between the pair of legs 32c. Therefore, the operation member 
32 has sufficient strength to support the weights of the vertical shaft 
18, the swivel arm 48 integral therewith and the display apparatus B. 
The operation of the first embodiment having the above-described structure 
will now be explained. 
When the vertical shaft 18 is at the engaging position indicated by the 
solid line in FIG. 2, the pin 40 engages with one of the recess portions 
38 as shown in FIG. 4, preventing the shaft from rotating. Consequently, 
the display apparatus B is securely held so as not to swivel with respect 
to the basic apparatus A and is prevented from undesirably moving by the 
vibration of the printing apparatus A in use, or the like. Even in the 
case where the display apparatus is subjected, by the operator, to a fine 
adjustment such as tilting on the swivel arm 48 through the tilt-swivel 
mechanism 50, the swivel arm 48 itself is prevented from moving from the 
set swivel position. 
To move the swivel arm 48 to a different position, the operation member 32 
is rocked from the original position, as indicated by the chain line in 
FIG. 2, thus shifting up the vertical shaft 18 by a height h. Accordingly, 
the vertical shaft 18 is shifted to the release position where the pin 40 
is disengaged from the recess portion 38 is indicated by the chain line, 
so that in this state the swivel arm 48 freely and smoothly swivels with 
the vertical shaft 18 around the axis X--X. When the pin 40 is positioned 
to a swivel position corresponding to a different recess portion 38, 
returning the operation member 32 to the original position causes the 
vertical shaft 18 to descend by its own weight to the engaging position at 
which the pin 40 engages with the different recess portion 38, and is held 
there so as not to swivel at the different swivel position. 
Since the bottom portion of the pivot pin 30 is shaped to be semispheric to 
provide a substantially pin contact with the arm 32a of the operation 
member 32, the friction between the pin 30 and the arm 32a is small. As a 
result, the pivot pin 30 can smoothly move on the engaging surface of the 
arm 32a relative to the arm 32a, and when the vertical shaft 18 is at the 
release position, the pin 30 is supported by and is rotated at the 
contacting point between the pin 30 and the arm 32a, so as to be in a 
floating state with respect to the holder 20. Naturally, the pin 30 can 
rotate very lightly. 
Further, since, as shown in FIG. 2, the operation member 32 is designed to 
have such a leverage that the arm length R1 from the support shaft 34 to 
the point of action of the pin 30, or the axis X--X, is about 1/2 of the 
arm length R2 from the support shaft 34 to the operation section 32b, the 
rocking action of the operation member 32 is smoothly performed using the 
principles of the lever. 
A supporting apparatus according to the second embodiment of this invention 
will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. Reference numerals 
used for explaining the first embodiment are also used to denote 
corresponding portions of the second embodiment for ease of understanding. 
Therefore, the explanation of the corresponding portions will be omitted, 
thus avoiding the otherwise redundant description, and only those 
essential portions of the second embodiment which differ from the first 
embodiment will now be briefly explained. 
The operation member 32 of the second embodiment comprises an operation 
lever 70, which is rockably supported by the support shaft 34 and engages 
with the pivot pin 30, and a slider 72 slidably engaged with the lever 70 
in such a manner that the slider 72 can slide, as illustrate, from the 
retraction position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated 
by the chain line along the length of the lever 70. 
The slider 72 is fitted in a bent guide path 74 of the operation lever 70, 
which is bent as shown in FIG. 7, and its internal end is coupled with a 
pulling spring 36. The slider 72 is held against the urging force of the 
spring 36 at the retraction position where a side portion 76 of an 
operation section 72a engages with the operation lever 70. At this 
position, the slider 72 is positioned not to substantially project outward 
from the outer cover 46, so that it is unlikely that the operation member 
32 is rocked by accidental touching of the slider 72. 
Windows 78 and 80 are respectively formed in the upstanding frame portion 
12c of the rear frame and the outer cover 46 so as to prevent interference 
with the operation member 32. The operation section 72a of the slider 72 
can be externally accessed through the window 80 of the outer cover 46. 
To shift up the vertical shaft 18 from the descended or engaging position 
indicated by the solid line in FIG. 6 by a height h to the release 
position indicated by the chain line, the operator first extracts the 
slider 72 away from the support shaft 34 against the force of the spring 
36, operating the operation section 72a and then depresses the slider. 
Consequently, the operation lever 70 rocks around the support shaft 34 
with the slider 72, which in turn shifts the vertical shaft 18 up to the 
release position via the pivot pin. 
As described above, at the time the operation member 32 is rocked, the arm 
length R2 is increased to be about three times the arm length R1 to 
provide a large leverage by extracting the slider 72, thus ensuring 
smoother and easier operation. What is more, the slider 72 is normally 
positioned at the retraction position so that it is protected by the outer 
cover, so that the possibility of undesirably touching the slider 72 can 
be avoided, and the external appearance of the supporting apparatus 
becomes simple and the artistic impression is improved. 
Modification of the swivel positioning means, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, 
respectively, will now be explained using the same reference numerals as 
used for the first and second embodiments to denote corresponding 
portions. 
According to the modification shown in FIG. 8, an engaging gear portion 82 
with wavy teeth is formed at the periphery of the top portion of the 
holder 20 with predetermined pitches between the teeth, and the pin 40 is 
engaged with the engaging gear portion 82. This engaging gear portion 82 
serves as the engaging recess portions 38 of the first embodiment. 
As the vertical shaft 18 is shifted upward by a height h from the 
illustrated engaging position, the pin 40 is also moved upward as 
indicated by the chain line to be disengaged from the engaging gear 
portion 82, thus allowing for a free rotation of the vertical shaft 18 
around the axis X--X. 
According to the modification shown in FIG. 9, an engaging gear portion 84 
with rectangular teeth is formed at the periphery of the top portion of 
the holder 20, with predetermined pitches between the teeth, and a sleeve 
86 with the same diameter as the holder 20 is concentrically fixed to the 
vertical shaft 18 on the side of the swivel arm 48, which is vertically 
movable with the vertical shaft 18. Another engaging gear portion 88 with 
rectangular teeth, which face and are respectively engageable with those 
of the engaging gear portion 84, is provided at the periphery of the 
sleeve 86. 
This modification shows the design which does not need to use the 
aforementioned pin 40. The engaging gear portions 84 and 88 engage with 
each other in the illustrated engaging position indicated by the solid 
line, thus preventing the rotation of the vertical shaft 18 and the swivel 
arm 48. When the vertical shaft 18 is shifted upward by a height h from 
the engaging position, the engaging gear portion 88 is moved to the 
position indicated by the chain line so as to be disengaged from the 
engaging gear portion 84, thus permitting a free rotation of the vertical 
shaft 18 and the swivel arm 48 around the axis X--X. 
The present invention is not limited to the above-explained embodiments and 
modifications; it can be modified in other forms as well without departing 
from the scope of this invention. 
For instance, the pin 40 serving as the swivel positioning means may be 
provided on the side of the holder 20 while the engaging recess portions 
38 and the engaging gear portion 82 may be provided on the side of the 
vertical shaft 18; this is a matter of design choice. 
In the first embodiment, the attachment apparatus B is mounted on the 
swivel arm 48; however, the supporting apparatus of this invention may be 
designed such that the attachment apparatus B is directly mounted on the 
vertical shaft 18 without using the swivel arm 48.