Abstract:
A device for holding a book or electronic viewer on a platform in which a clamping mechanism allows mounting to a supporting structure such as a piece of furniture. The clamp includes a V-shaped piece able to be fit to a corner of the furniture piece and securely engage a narrow overhang. A set of stretch cords are provided which each has tips each receivable in one of a field of holes to form loops holding corners of various sized item to the platform.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention concerns holders for books, tablet pc&#39;s, electronic book readers, etc. The present inventor has heretofore conceived and developed book holders as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,591, which is incorporated herein by reference. The holder shown therein is floor mounted and has a weighted base to which is attached a vertical upright, the upright in turn holding a pivot arm assembly to which a book holder platform is attached. 
         [0002]    It sometimes would be advantageous to support the device on furniture in particular a table instead of a base and an upright as the device would be simpler, less expensive to produce, and more compact and easily transportable. 
         [0003]    Such tables are commonly provided next to a bed, sofa or easy chair and thus would be conveniently located for this purpose. 
         [0004]    On the other hand, the device supports the holder platform cantilevered out from its support and the support must therefore be capable of being securely anchored to an end table or a similar furniture piece. 
         [0005]    The introduction of tablet pc&#39;s, such as the iPad(™)and dedicated electronic readers such as the Kindle(™) book readers have brought these items into widespread use, and a device adapted to conveniently hold them would likewise be advantageous. 
         [0006]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact holder device for books and electronic devices which can be supported on furniture pieces. 
         [0007]    It is another object of the invention to provide such holder device which is adapted to hold books and also to securely hold tablet pc&#39;s and electronic reader devices of various sizes and shapes. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The above recited objects and other objects which will be understood upon a reading of the following specification and claims are achieved by a short upright post having a clamp including clamping pieces able to grip narrow overhangs of a table top of an end table or other furniture piece. 
         [0009]    The clamp has a 90° V-shaped clamping element comprised of two diverging flat fingers which can be fit against and to a corner to engage narrow overhang surfaces at a corner as on a furniture piece. An opposing clamp/element can be threadedly advanced against the top of the furniture piece at a location above and between the fingers of the lower clamp element. 
         [0010]    The grip of each finger on the narrow overhang stabilizes the engagement of the other leg since each leg is positively held in its position by the presence of the clamped other leg, so that neither leg will tip or slip out of engagement with its respective narrow overhang surface. 
         [0011]    The end result is that the upright will remain securely clamped and held on the furniture piece. 
         [0012]    The clamp itself can also similarly mount other items to other supports. 
         [0013]    The holder piece is mounted to the upright by an articulated swing arm assembly pivoted on the upper end of upright which is adjustable in height. 
         [0014]    In order to hold variously sized electronic display devices on a platform on the outer end by an outer swing arm, a plurality (preferably four) fields of through holes are formed in the platform. The holes are adapted to receive ends of an elastic cord at any locations within the hole field. 
         [0015]    The ends of the elastic cords have crimp attached metal or plastic sleeves which completely enclose the ends of each cord, but only partly enclose the cord for a portion of their length. 
         [0016]    The sleeves are able to be inserted through any hole and then tipped on the other side of the platform to retain the cord end in any selected hole. Attaching both ends in respective holes allows a cord loop to be formed in each core at the front side of the platform. 
         [0017]    An electronic device, book, magazine, etc. can be held to the platform by having the four corners of the item held received beneath a respective cord loop. This holder arrangement can also be used to secure other devices to other structures. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a pictorial view of a book/electronic display holder device according to the invention supported on the corner of an end table placed next to a chain. 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged pictorial view of a segment of an upright member included in the holder device shown in  FIG. 1  and the clamping mechanism used to mount the same on the end table. 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged pictorial view of the clamp components shown in  FIG. 2  with the clamp engaging the corner of the end table shown in fragmentary form. 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a pictorial view of the clamp components shown in  FIG. 3  looking up from below. 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a pictorial view of an alternate embodiment of the clamp components shown in  FIGS. 2-5 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged pictorial view of yet another embodiment of the components shown in  FIGS. 2-5 . 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  is a pictorial view of a holder device according to the invention showing an electronic display device mounted to a platform included in the device. 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  is a pictorial rear view of a holder device showing details of the support platform having an electronic display mounted thereto shown in hidden lines. 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  is an enlarged pictorial view of an elastic cord with one tip sleeve turned sideways to hold one end of the cord within the hole when the cord is stretched. 
           [0027]      FIG. 10  is an enlarged pictorial view of a platform corner broken away to show the formation of a cord loop. 
           [0028]      FIG. 11  is an enlarged pictorial view of the platform partially broken away to shown a spring loaded friction disc used to hold the platform in a selected rotated position. 
           [0029]      FIG. 12  is an exploded pictorial view of the swing arm pivot connection components. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0030]    In the following detailed description, certain specific terminology will be employed for the sake of clarity and a particular embodiment described in accordance with the requirements of 35 USC 112, but it is to be understood that the same is not intended to be limiting and should not be so construed inasmuch as the invention is capable of taking many forms and variations within the scope of the appended claims. 
         [0031]    Referring to the Drawings, and particularly  FIG. 1 , a holder device  10  similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,591 according to the present invention is adapted to be mounted on a furniture piece, such as the end table  14  shown adjacent a chair  16  where the user would be seated when reading a book or viewing an electronic display device (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) mounted to a generally planar platform  18  to which the item being viewed is secured. A side table next to a bed could also be the support. 
         [0032]    A swing arm assembly  20  connects the platform  18  to a relatively short height upright  22  which is detachably secured to the table  14  by a clamping mechanism  24 . 
         [0033]    The upright  22  has a V-shaped clamp piece  26 , ( FIG. 2 ) central portion  28  welded thereto at a location below an upper clamping piece  30 , both located below a split gripping collar  32  which receives a lower vertical end  70  of an inner swing arm  68  which is received into the gripper collar  32  and telescoped into the upright  22 . 
         [0034]    The two halves of collar  32  are secured together by a set of screws  31  to enclose both the lower end  70  of the inner arm  68  and the upper end of the upright  22 , having portion matched to their respective diameters. Such split collar is shown and described in further detail in U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,591. An upper knob  36  tightens or loosens the grip of the gripping collar  32  on the lower vertical end  70  of the arm  68  to either secure the same in a selected telescoped position of the end  34  in the upright  22  to position the platform  18  at a desired height within the range of telescoping motion. 
         [0035]    A lower knob  38  creates a controlled pressure on the upright  22  to vary the pressure thereon. This allows pivoting of the swing arm assembly to a desired rotated position which friction created by turning of the knob  38  will maintain. 
         [0036]    The upper clamping piece  30  has a threaded clamping rod  40  received in a threaded hole therein to allow pressure element  42  able to be selectively brought down against or up and away from the table surface by rotation of a clamp knob  44 . 
         [0037]    The lower clamp piece  26  has a pair of fingers  46 A,  46 B integral with the central piece  28  and extending at right angles to each other to form a V-shape. The fingers  46 A,  46 B can be aligned with the undersurface of a narrow overhangs  48 A,  48 B extending away from a corner of the table  14  ( FIG. 4 ). 
         [0038]    When the clamping element  42  is tightened against the surface of the table, the clamping piece fingers  46 A,  46 B are moved up to clamp against these undersurfaces. 
         [0039]    The undersurfaces  48 A,  48 B may be quite narrow, such as a half inch in width, while still reliably hold the cantilevered weight of the platform and item being held. This allows a secure mound since each finger piece  46 A,  46 B secures the other in position since the grip is much stronger against forces applied in the lengthwise direction of the overhang undersurface. This lengthens the area engaged by each finger  46 A  46 B which in turn very securely resists crosswise or tipping movement of the other piece  46 A,  46 B as would otherwise occur by tipping or slipping off the narrow overhanging undersurfaces  48 A,  48 B. 
         [0040]    Thus, a very stable securement of the clamp itself to quite narrow overhangs is achieved by the clamping mechanism  24 . 
         [0041]    The fingers  46 A,  46 B can also be extended beneath a straight overhang if desired, but require a deeper overhang depth in order to locate the clamping element  42  at a point lying over the surface to engage the same. 
         [0042]    An alternate embodiment of the clamp  24 A is shown in  FIG. 5 , in which the lower piece  26 A is not straight but has an angled up central portion  28 A which slidable on a square in section upright  22 A rather than being welded thereto so as to be adjustably positioned thereon by lifting up on the fingers (only one finger  46 A- 1  visible in  FIG. 5 ) and sliding to a desired position. The piece  26 A wedges to the upright  22 A when the fingers are released. 
         [0043]    The threaded rod  40 A can be shorter since it only needs limited movement to create a clamping pressure by the advance of the clamping element  42 A. 
         [0044]      FIG. 6  shows a second alternate embodiment of the clamping mechanism  24 B wherein the upright  22 B is threaded and the lower piece  26 B may be moved up or down by rotation of a threaded rotatable wheel  27  carried by the lower clamping piece  26 B to adjust and also to clamp against the upper piece  30 B which can be affixed to the upright  22 B above the threaded portion thereof. 
         [0045]      FIG. 8  shows a rectangular electronic display  50  secured to the platform  18  four by loops formed by four elastic cords  52  resiliently capturing the four corners of the display  50 . The platform  18  has four oval shaped regions  54  which each have formed therein a field of through holes  56 , each sized to receive tips  58  on the ends of the cords  52  crimped to each cord end  56 . The tips are comprised of short length split tubes. Each tube tip  58  has a cut away segment  59  which allow tip  58  to be extended transversely by bending of the cord  52  as seen in  FIG. 9A . 
         [0046]    This allows insertion of a tip end in any hole  56 , with subsequent folding over of the tip end  58  preventing pull out of the cord  52  from the hole  56  in which it is inserted. 
         [0047]    Thus a loop can be formed by inserting the ends of a cord in respective spaced apart holes  56  as seen in  FIG. 10 . 
         [0048]    The size and location of the loops  52  can be set by the selection of the particular pair of holes  56  in which the tip ends  58  are inserted. 
         [0049]    This allows various sized and proportions of the display  50  may be securely mounted to the platform  18 . The cord loops can be shortened by routing the cords  52  through two or more holes as seen in  FIG. 10A . 
         [0050]      FIGS. 7 and 11  show details of the swing arm assembly in which a horizontal pivotal connection  60  is made to allow user selection of the position of the platform  18  relative the upright  22 , which is described more completely in U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,591. 
         [0051]    A first end fitting  62  has a tubular portion  64  which receives the horizontal end  66  of an inner arm  68 . Swing arm  68  has a vertical segment  70  received in the split sleeve  32  to allow vertical adjustment of the platform  18 . 
         [0052]    As seen in  FIG. 11 , an outer swing arm  72  has an end fitting  74  attached to one end with a vertical tube  76  received in a socket  78  of end fitting  62  to create a vertical swivel axis. An enlarged end  80  of arm  72  has a slot  78  formed therein receiving the end of a screw  82  to be captured while allowing rotation of arm  72  therein. 
         [0053]    As seen in  FIG. 12 , the platform  18  is pivotally adjustable about axis  82  passing through its center by being mounted on a center rod  84  with a flat disc  86  on the rod spring urged by a spring  90  to compress a friction disc  88  against the center of the rear of the platform  18 . This allows rotation of the platform  18  to orient it as desired but the friction maintains the disc in any selected position, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,591.