Articulating telephone base

A telephone including a telephone base having a bottom convex surface and including a first pair of guide rails, in which the bottom convex surface has a number of recesses; and a telephone base support having a second pair of guide rails and adapted to slidably support the telephone base by cooperation between the first and second pairs of guide rails. The telephone base support includes an elastic member for successively engaging the plurality of recesses one by one, so that the telephone base slides on the telephone base support in discrete steps when the user articulates the telephone base.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates to the field of telephones. More
 particularly, the present invention relates to telephones having
 articulating bases for adjusting the position of the telephone.
 Articulating features have been incorporated into current telephones such
 as the telephone having a slidable speaker unit disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
 5,461,672 to Enokido et al.
 Currently, with telephones and liquid-crystal-displays (LCDs) in wide use,
 both technologies have been integrated to offer consumers telephones with
 LCD displays. The LCD displays are used to display caller ID, telephone
 directories, answering machine information, operating instructions, etc.
 Because LCDs have a limited optimal viewing angle, however, conventional
 LCD displays on telephones are often difficult to see without the user
 having to move to a better viewing position. This problem is aggravated by
 the multiple locations where the telephones can be placed, on top of a
 desk or wall mounted, for example.
 OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention is intended to overcome the above problems and
 consists of a telephone base that can be articulated on a telephone base
 support, thereby giving the user the flexibility to adjust the position of
 the telephone to improve the visibility of the display.
 Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an
 articulated telephone structure that will give the user the flexibility to
 adjust the position of the telephone.
 In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the telephone
 includes a telephone base having a telephone function and including a
 first pair of guide rails, a bottom convex surface having a plurality of
 recesses, and a telephone base support having a second pair of guide rails
 and adapted to slidably support the telephone base by a cooperation
 between the first and second pairs of guide rails, wherein the telephone
 base support includes an elastic member for engaging the plurality of
 recesses so that the telephone base slides on the telephone base support
 in discrete steps when a user manipulates the telephone base.
 In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the telephone
 includes a telephone base having a telephone function and including a
 first pair of curved guide rails and a side surface having an elastic
 member, and a telephone base support having a second pair of guide rails
 formed on corresponding side surfaces thereof and adapted to slidably
 support the telephone base by cooperation between the first and second
 pairs of guide rails, wherein one of the side surfaces of the telephone
 base support includes a plurality of recesses for engaging the elastic
 member so that the telephone base slides on the telephone base support in
 discrete steps when a user articulates the telephone base.
 These and other objects, advantages, and features of the present invention
 will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the
 following description of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
 While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms,
 there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail
 specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure
 is to be considered as an example of the principles of the invention and
 not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and
 described. In the description below, like reference numerals are used to
 describe the same, similar or corresponding parts in the several views of
 the drawing.
 Turning now to FIGS. 1-3, the articulating telephone base feature according
 to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. A telephone
 base 10 having a telephone function and including an LCD display 15 is
 adapted to slide on a telephone base support 20 along a path shown by the
 arrow A. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the angular position .O slashed. of
 the LCD display 15 changes depending on the position of the telephone base
 10 with respect to the telephone base support 20. This change in angular
 position .O slashed. allows the user to place the LCD display at an
 optimal viewing angle independently from where the telephone base 10 is
 placed. It will be appreciated that as the base 10 moves from left to
 right in FIGS. 1-3 relative to the support 20, the angle .O slashed.
 increases. In addition, by providing a longer support 20 or changing the
 respective angle of curvature of the base 10 and support 20 a greater
 angular change than shown in FIGS. 1-3 can be obtained.
 Turning now to FIG. 4, a detailed structure of the articulating telephone
 base according to an embodiment of the present invention will be
 described. The telephone base 10 includes a first pair of guide rails 25
 and a bottom convex surface 30. The bottom convex surface 30 includes a
 plurality of sawtooth elements forming detents or recesses 35. The
 telephone base support 20 includes a second pair of guide rails 40 which
 fit on the first pair of guide rails 25, thereby slidably supporting the
 telephone base 10 as shown in FIGS. 1-3.
 Further, as seen in FIG. 4, the telephone base support 20 includes a
 U-shaped elastic member 45 unitarily formed with the telephone base
 support 20. The elastic member 45 has a sawtooth element 46 for engagement
 with one of the recesses 35. The elastic member 45 by reason of being
 formed of the same plastic as the support 20 and having the shown U-shape
 will tend to be biased upwardly. Alternatively, the elastic member could
 be spring biased so that the tooth element 46 engages the plurality of
 recesses 35. In this way the telephone base 10 slides on the telephone
 base support 20 in discrete steps when the user articulates the telephone
 base 10 to obtain an optimum viewing angle for the LCD display 15, shown
 in FIGS. 1-3.
 Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the articulating telephone base feature
 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be
 described. The description of features common with the embodiment shown in
 FIG. 4 described above will not be repeated.
 The telephone base 10 includes on a side surface 50 an elastic member 55,
 and a corresponding side surface 60 on the telephone base support 20
 includes a plurality of detents or recesses 65. The elastic member 55 can
 be formed of a soft, deformable plastic material, or it can be formed as a
 spring biased arm, similar to element 45 in FIG. 4. The cooperation
 between the elastic member 55 and the plurality of recesses 65 on their
 respective side surfaces prevents the telephone base 10 from sliding too
 easily and permits the telephone base 10 to move in discrete steps
 relative to the support 20.
 A variation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is to duplicate the
 cooperating structure formed by the elastic member 55 and the plurality of
 recesses 65 on the opposite side of the telephone on side surfaces 70 and
 75, respectively. The resulting variation would result in another
 plurality of recesses 80 formed on the side surface 75 and another elastic
 member (not shown) on the side surface 70.
 Another variation of the cooperating first and second guide rails 25 and 40
 is to reverse their structure from 25 being a groove and 40 being the
 mating structure to 40 being the groove and 25 being the mating structure.
 A further variation is to reverse the positions of the plurality of
 recesses 35 and the elastic member 45 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4,
 or reverse the positions of the plurality of recesses 65 and the elastic
 member 55 in the other embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
 This invention has been illustrated using a telephone as an example but it
 would be equally useful in any electronic device having an LCD display.
 Thus, it is apparent that in accordance with the present invention an
 apparatus that fully satisfies the objectives, aims, and advantages is set
 forth above. While the invention has been described in conjunction with
 specific embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications,
 permutations, and variations will become apparent to those skilled in the
 art in the light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended
 that the present invention embrace all such alternatives, modifications
 and variations as fall within the scope of the appended claims.