Abstract:
A portable vehicle top multimedia player aims to be attached to an inner side of a vehicle top for use in the vehicle and detachable for use in a mounting manner. It has a longer and firmer axle hinged on a loading and unloading structure. The loading and unloading structure has a latch hook and a detent member to securely hold and anchor the multimedia player. Thus the multimedia player can be loaded rapidly in a ceiling dock to form a safe and secured coupling. By depressing a release button, the multimedia player can be removed from the ceiling dock and carried to other places for use in the mounting manner.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a multimedia player and particularly to a portable vehicle top multimedia player that can be used by either attaching to a vehicle top or separately in a detached and mounting manner.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The conventional design for vehicle top multimedia player such as the one disclosed in R.O.C. patent publication No. 501855 is a two-in-one structure that includes a DVD optical disk drive and a ceiling-attached LCD TV coupling together. While it is convenient to use and allows rear seat passengers to select desired video programs, it still has room for improvement. For instance, when the vehicle is driven to a recreational destination and parked, people in the vehicle usually leave the vehicle to do some activities. If the vehicle top multimedia display device can be removed and carried away, it can provide another entertainment. Then there is no need to buy another set of portable or desktop multimedia display device. It can save users a lot of cost. Hence removable vehicle top multimedia player is one of research and development focuses in the industry.  
         [0003]     At present the techniques for the removable vehicle top multimedia player are already available on the market. However they still have some common problems remained to be overcome, notably the issues of “convenience for fast loading and unloading” and “passenger safety” have to be included and properly balanced. General speaking, there are many techniques available to achieve the convenience of fast loading and unloading. But to simultaneously take into account of safety and secured installation on the vehicle top for a long period of time is a big challenge. For instance, Applicant has proposed a “Detachable vehicle top multimedia display device” in R.O.C patent No. M281845. It aims to achieve fast loading and unloading. It has a ceiling dock  10  with a release button  14  located thereon to control a latch end  152  of a latch lever  15  to latch on a latch hole  23  formed on a multimedia display device  20 . While it can achieve the object of fast loading and unloading, it lacks sufficient safety function. This is because the latch end  152  has to allow the multimedia displaying device  20  to be swiveled thereon, also has to be released therefrom rapidly to make fast loading and unloading of the multimedia displaying device  20  possible. Hence the latch end  152  cannot be extended into the latch hole  23  too much. But in the event that an impact accident occurs to the vehicle, or elastic fatigue takes place after used for a period of time, the latch end  152  cannot return to its original position for anchoring. Then the multimedia display device  20  is probe to escape and drop from the ceiling dock  10 . It could injure the passengers in the vehicle. Therefore to provide fast loading and unloading and also achieve safety and secured installation on the vehicle top for a long period of time are the main focuses of the present invention.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The primary object of the present invention is to solve the aforesaid disadvantages. The present invention provides a portable vehicle top multimedia player that has a longer axle to be hinged on a loading and unloading structure to provide a firmer and longer durability. The loading and unloading structure has a latch hook and a detent member to securely latch and anchor the multimedia player. Thus the multimedia player can be installed quickly and securely on a ceiling dock. It also can be removed rapidly from the ceiling dock by pushing a release button to allow the multimedia player to be carried to other places for use.  
         [0005]     In order to achieve the foregoing object, the portable vehicle top multimedia player of the invention includes:  
         [0006]     a ceiling dock fastened to an inner side of a vehicle top. It has a release button, an axle, a coupling member and a holding space. The release button has a push stem. The coupling member has a coupling end;  
         [0007]     a loading and unloading structure which includes a upper plate, a detent member, a coupled member, and a lower plate. The lower plate has an aperture and two sides each has a latch hook. The detent member and the driven member are located between the lower plate and the upper plate. The lower plate and the upper plate are fastened to form an axle hole to hinge the axle. The detent member further has a detent portion running through the aperture and an upper sliding member formed thereon. The coupled member has a side rod driven by the push stem and a lower sliding member located below and corresponding to the upper sliding member. Hence the coupled member can be moved leftwards and rightwards by moving of the release button, and the lower sliding member can drive the upper sliding member upwards and downwards to move the detent portion up and down; and  
         [0008]     a multimedia player which has two edges on a back side that have respectively a latch trough and a latch boss, a detent trough on the top edge of the back side and a coupling trough on the bottom edge of the back side.  
         [0009]     By means of the structure set forth above, the latch hook can latch on the latch boss through the latch trough. The detent portion can run through the aperture to press the detent trough, and the coupling end can latch on the coupling trough. Thereby the multimedia player can be loaded rapidly in the holding space of the ceiling dock and anchored, or be unloaded and removed as desired.  
         [0010]     The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is an isometric exploded view of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is another exploded view of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  are schematic views of the moving relationships of the release button, coupled member and detent member of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIGS. 4A through 4E  are schematic views of loading operations for the multimedia player of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIGS. 5A through 5D  are schematic views of unloading operations for the multimedia player of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a schematic rear view of the multimedia player of the present invention after removed.  
         [0017]      FIGS. 7A and 7B  are schematic views of the multimedia player of the present invention after removed and braced by a bracket.  
         [0018]      FIGS. 8A and 8B  are schematic views of the multimedia player of the present invention after removed for loading batteries.  
         [0019]      FIG. 9  is an isometric perspective view of the multimedia player of the present invention attached to the ceiling dock.  
         [0020]      FIG. 10  is an isometric perspective view of the ceiling dock of present invention attached to an ornamental board. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0021]     Refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2  for the exploded views of the present invention from various angles. The portable vehicle top multimedia player of the invention mainly includes a ceiling dock  10 , a loading and unloading structure  30  and a multimedia player  20 .  
         [0022]     The ceiling dock  10  mainly includes a release button  11 , an axle  15 , a coupling member  13  and a holding space  17 . The release button  11  has a push stem  111 . The coupling member  13  has a coupling end  132 . The ceiling dock  10  further has a housing trough  16  to hold a spring  161  inside. The coupling member  13  has a jutting trough  131  and an inclined lump  133 . The jutting trough  131  aims to cover the housing trough  16  and has one end in contact with the spring  161 . The ceiling dock  10  also has a hand-push member  14  which has an opening  142  running through by the jutting trough  131  and a ramming end  143  pressing the inclined lump  133 . The ceiling dock  10  further has a cavity  112  to confine the moving displacement of the release button  11  and a track slot  121 . The track slot  121  holds a retaining element  12  which is movable leftwards in the track slot  121  to prohibit the release button  11  from moving. The ceiling dock  10  also contains a digital radio signal transceiver  40  to transmit and receive wireless digital signals.  
         [0023]     The loading and unloading structure  30  includes a upper plate  34 , a detent member  33 , a coupled member  32  and a lower plate  31 . The lower plate  31  has an aperture  311  and two sides each have a latch hook  314 . The detent member  33  and the coupled member  32  are located between the lower plate  31  and the upper plate  34 . The lower plate  31  and the upper plate  34  are fastened together to form an axle hole  312  which is coupled with the axle  15 . The detent member  33  has a detent portion  331  running through the aperture  311  and a upper sliding member  332 . The coupled member  32  has a side rod  321  driven by the push stem  111  and a lower sliding member  322  located below the upper sliding member  332 . The upper plate  34  has a release hole  341  running through by the push stem  111  and corresponding to the side rod  321 .  
         [0024]     The multimedia player  20  has a LCD screen  27  on a front side, and a bracket  22  and a connector housing trough  26  on a back side. The connector housing trough  26  holds a connector (not shown in the drawings) to be electrically connected a connector  313  of the loading and unloading structure  30 . The back side has two edges each has a latch trough  23  and a latch boss  24 . The back side further has a detent trough  25  on a top edge and a coupling trough  201  on a bottom edge. The multimedia player  20  further has a disc insertion slot  21  (for optical disks such as CD, VCD and DVD) and a signal transmission port  28  (referring to  FIG. 6 , for coupling with a USB connector, IEEE 1394 connector, memory card connector, power supply connector, graphic adapter or audio connector or the like). The multimedia player  20  may also include a storage device (such as hard disk, not shown in the drawings).  
         [0025]     Refer to  FIGS. 3A and 3B  for the schematic views of the moving relationships of the release button, coupled member and detent member of the present invention. As shown in the drawings, the loading and unloading structure  30  includes a upper plate  34 , a detent member  33 , a coupled member  32  and a lower plate  31  as previously discussed. The detent member  33  and the coupled member  32  are located between the lower plate  31  and the upper plate  34 . The detent member  33  has two sides each has a detent portion  331  and a upper sliding members  332 , and a spring  333  above each of two ends thereof. Hence the detent member  33  is in contact with the coupled member  32  in normal conditions. The coupled member  32  has a side rod  321  on one end driven by the push stem  111  and a lower sliding member  322  located below the upper sliding member  332  corresponding to the upper sliding member  332 . The upper plate  34  has a release hole  341  running through by the push stem  111  and corresponding to the side rod  321 . When the release button  11  is depressed by an external force, the coupled member  32  is driven by the release button  11  and moves leftwards; the lower sliding member  322  pushes the upper sliding member  332  upwards to drive the detent portion  331  upwards to escape from the detent trough  25  of the multimedia player  20 ; and the multimedia player  20  can be moved forwards. On the contrary, when the external force is absent from the release button  11 , the detent member  33  is pushed by spring  333  to return to its original position; the detent portion  331  returns to the detent trough  25  of the multimedia player  20 , and the multimedia player  20  cannot be moved forwards.  
         [0026]     Refer to  FIGS. 4A through 4E  for the schematic views of loading operations for the multimedia player of the present invention. To install the multimedia player  20  on the ceiling dock  10 , first, align the latch trough  23  of the multimedia player  20  with the latch hook  314  of the lower plate  31 , and wedge the latch hook  314  in the latch trough  23  to form a coupling between them; meanwhile the detent member  33  is pushed upwards by the multimedia player  20 ; next, move the multimedia player  20  rearwards until the latch hook  314  is latched on the latch boss  24 ; the detent portion  331  is wedging in the detent trough  25  of the multimedia player  20  due to the corresponding relationship; as the coupling trough  201  of the multimedia player  20  is corresponding to the coupling member  13  of the ceiling dock  10 , the coupling end  132  is latched in the coupling trough  201 ; hence the multimedia player  20  can be installed rapidly in the holding space  17  of the ceiling dock  10  and anchored. When the hand-push member  14  is moved downwards by an external force, due to its one end is fastened to the ceiling dock  10 , the ramming end  143  on another end is moved downwards to push the inclined lump  133  of the coupling member  13 ; the coupling member  13  compresses the spring  161 ; hence the coupling end  132  is moved to release the coupling trough  201 ; therefore the multimedia player  20  can be rotated about the axle  15  to a desired viewing angle for users.  
         [0027]     Refer  FIGS. 5A through 5D , and  6  for the schematic views of unloading operations for the multimedia player of the present invention. To remove the multimedia player  20 , first, as shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , depress the release button  11 ; the coupled member  32  is driven leftwards to push the detent portion  331  upwards to escape from the detent trough  25  of the multimedia player  20 ; the multimedia player  20  can be moved forwards to slide the latch hook  314  out of the latch trough  23 ; then it can be separated from the loading and unloading structure  30 , and the multimedia player  20  can be removed from the holding space  17  of the ceiling dock  10 .  
         [0028]     Refer to  FIGS. 7A and 7B  for the schematic views of the multimedia player of the present invention after unloaded and braced by the bracket. The bracket  22  on the back side of the multimedia player  20  has one end hinged on the multimedia player  20 . When another end of the bracket is moved outwards, the bracket  22  and the multimedia player  20  form an included angle to brace the multimedia player  20 . The bracket  22  further has a sliding track  221 . When users want to adjust the viewing angle, pulling the bracket  22  downwards, the bracket  22  can slide along the sliding track  221  to extend the bracing length.  
         [0029]     Refer to  FIGS. 8A and 8B  for the schematic views of the multimedia player of the present invention after removed for loading batteries. The multimedia player  20  has a battery connector  29  on the back side. A battery  50  equipped with a shaft  51  may be designed and loaded for use. After the battery  50  is loaded, it not only supplies electric power for the multimedia player  20 , the shaft  51  can also bear the weight of the multimedia player  20  to adjust the viewing angle. Refer to  FIGS. 9 and 10  for the multimedia player of the present invention attached to the ceiling dock and adorned with an ornamental board. After the multimedia player  20  is loaded with the battery  50  and installed on the ceiling dock  10 , the battery  50  can be charged. As shown in  FIG. 10 , the juncture of the ceiling dock  10  and the vehicle top inner side (not shown in the drawings) can be bonded with an ornamental board  60  to enhance aesthetic appealing.  
         [0030]     While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.