Abstract:
A computer mount for mounting a laptop computer in an automobile, such as a police or a public safety vehicle allows a computer to be quickly and easily moved to an out-of-the-way position (e.g., out of the deployed airbag zone) before moving the vehicle. Thus, while the vehicle is in motion the mount is kept low, out of the airbag zone. When the car is stopped, the mount is quickly and easily raised up and brought to a convenient ergonomic position for typing.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO REALTED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/158,477, filed on Oct. 8, 1999. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to laptop computer mounts and more particularly to laptop computer mounts for use in all types of vehicles. 
     The use of portable computers (e.g., laptop computers) is widespread. In certain applications, portable computers are brought into vehicles, used temporarily and then removed for use elsewhere. For example, in law enforcement, an increasing number of police vehicles are equipped with laptop computers to allow the police officer to enter or retrieve data relating to the operator of a motor vehicle. 
     In some cases, particularly where the driver is the sole occupant of the vehicle, the passenger seat is used as a work surface for the computer. Of course, doing so comes at the expense of sacrificing the passenger seat, an impractical option in most cases. Using the passenger seat as a working surface is impossible when the vehicle has two occupants in the front seats. For vehicles used only with single occupants, the passenger seat area can be modified to form a more appropriate working surface. Even in this situation, the seated driver must twist into an uncomfortable position to use the computer. 
     Other solutions to this problem have been sought in the form of brackets allowing the computer to be attached to various parts of the car including the steering column or console. However, the vehicle cannot safely be driven with the device in place because deployment of air bags could damage the computer and/or cause injury to the vehicle&#39;s occupants. Additionally, assembling and disassembling the computer and brackets before and after each use can be time consuming. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention features a mount for use in a vehicle (e.g., an automobile) which is comfortably accessible when the vehicle is not moving and can be quickly and easily moved and safely locked into an “out-of-the-way” position before the vehicle is moved. In other words, when the car is stopped, the mount is quickly and easily raised up in a single action to a convenient ergonomic position for typing. On the other hand, just prior to moving the car, the computer can be quickly repositioned in a single action out of the deployed air bag zone. 
     In one aspect, the invention features a computer mount assembly including a biasing element, a rail assembly, and a mount having a surface for receiving a computer. The mount is connected to a second end of the rail assembly and to a second end of the biasing element, and is slidably movable in a single action between an up position and a down position relative to a first end of the rail assembly and a first end of the biasing element. The single action design allows an occupant of the vehicle to reposition the mount with only one hand instantaneously. 
     Embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following. 
     The mount is further configured to be slidably movable in a single action to a plurality of positions between the up position and the down position. Additionally, surface of the mount is adjustable, i.e., tiltable and swivelable. The plurality of positions and surface adjustability allows occupants of different size to move the mount into multiple ergonomic positions. The computer mount assembly further includes a housing to which both the first end of the biasing element and the first end of the rail assembly are connected. A pin is attached to the housing and configured to engage the mount in a plurality of positions. 
     The biasing element and the rail assembly are positioned relative to a base of the housing to reduce the effective amount of force needed to compress the biasing element, e.g., to about 60% of the end-on force. The biasing element and the rail assembly are attached to the mount at an angle relative to a base of the housing creating an incline plane thereby reducing the effective amount of force necessary to compress the biasing element. The angle between the base and the rail assembly is fixed, e.g., about 45 degrees, whereas the angle between the base and the biasing element varies, e.g., between about 0 to about 40 degrees, as the mount is moved between the up position and the down position. The variable angle design allows longer biasing elements to be used in the assembly without needing to increase the overall height of the assembly in the down position. 
     The rail assembly includes a first member at the first end and a second member at the second end. The second member is slidable in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the first member to a plurality of positions between the up position and the down position by engaging a pin attached to the housing with the mount. The mount is slidably movable between about 6 to about 15 inches away from the housing at an angle of between about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees relative to a base of the housing. 
     The mount includes adjustable members configured to secure a computer to the surface of the mount. At least one of the adjustable members is secured to the surface with a locking mechanism to protect the computer from theft. 
     In certain embodiments, the computer mount can be instantly positioned up and toward the rear of the vehicle (e.g., about 8 inches on an angle of about 45 degree) in adjustable increments of about 1 inches to place the computer in a convenient typing location. The mount swivels and tilts for convenient operation and viewing of the computer. 
     Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawings, the following Detailed Description, and the claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a computer mount in a raised position with a locking laptop computer mount separated from a lower unit of the computer mount. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a rail assembly in an extended position. 
     FIG. 3 is an end-on cross-sectional view of the rail assembly shown in FIG. 2 taken along line  3 — 3 . 
     FIG. 4 is a side-on schematic view of the intermediate assembly, rail assembly, and plunger shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the locking laptop computer mount shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a computer mount in the low (down) locked position as viewed from a driver facing he dashboard of the vehicle. 
     FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a computer mount in the high (Up) raised position as viewed from the passenger seat facing the dashboard. 
     FIG. 8 is an exploded over-head perspective view of the locking pin engaging the intermediate assembly of the computer mount. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a mounting unit  10  includes a lower assembly  20  and an intermediate assembly  60  with an adjustable mount  65 . Mounting unit  10  also includes a locking support platform  30  connected to adjustable mount  65  but is shown disconnected here for easier viewing of the components of mounting unit  10 . Mounting unit  10  is installed over the transmission tunnel of an automobile (not shown) by fastening lower assembly  20  to any support member of the automobile, e.g., floor boards, frame or auxilary brackets. 
     Lower assembly  20  includes a rail assembly  40  and a plunger  50  (e.g., a gas spring), both of which connect to intermediate assembly  60  and are used to translate intermediate assembly  60  up and away from lower assembly  20 . Rail assembly  40  is in the form of a pair of ball bearing drawer slides  42  attached on sides  41  and  41 ′ of mounting unit  10  and is described in more detail below. Plunger  50  includes a central piston  54  having one end received within a compressed gas cylinder  52  and an opposite end attached to intermediate assembly  60  (not shown). Compressed gas within cylinder  52  applies an outward force to central piston  54  thereby forcing intermediate assembly  60  to translate along rail assembly  40 . 
     Intermediate assembly  60  includes an outer surface  61  having a series of stops  45  that engage a locking pin  25  mounted on an outer surface  21  of lower assembly  20  such that intermediate assembly  60  is translatable to several different lengths. Typically, rail assembly  40  and plunger  50  are configured to translate intermediate assembly  60  in about 1 inch increments to a full translation between about 6 to about 15 inches at an angle relative to a base  22  of lower assembly  20  between about 30 to about 60 degrees. 
     Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, each drawer slide  42  of rail assembly  40  includes an outer rail  100  attached to lower assembly  20  and an inner rail  102  attached to intermediate assembly  60 . Both outer rail  100  and inner rail  102  are movably secured on opposite sides of a central rail  110 . Central rail  110  acts as a track on which outer rail  100  and inner rail  102  translate in parallel but opposite directions. Intermediate assembly  60 , central rail  110  and inner rail  102  translate, in telescope fashion, with respect to outer rail  100  which is held stationary by lower assembly  20 . 
     Central rail  110  contains channels  112  (FIG. 3) which run parallel to each other along the longitudinal length of central rail  110 . Similarly, outer rail  100  and inner rail  102  each include channels  116  (FIG. 3) running parallel to both each other and channels  112 . When central rail  110  is sandwiched between outer rail  100  and inner rail  102  (FIG.  3 ), channels  112 ,  116  extend along the longitudinal axis of drawer slides  42 . Bearings  114  are placed in channels  112 ,  116  to reduce the friction as inner rail  102  and central rail  110  telescope relative to outer rail  100 . Mechanical stops  120  (FIG. 2) on rails  100 ,  102  protrude into channels  116  to maintain bearings  114  therein. Central rail  110  also includes mechanical stops  122  protruding into channel  116  to prohibit inner rail  102  and outer rail  100  from being fully translated off of central rail  110 . For example, when rail assembly  40  is translated to the full open position, stops  122  abut stops  120 . Rail assembly  40  can be obtained from Accuride, located in the United States, as Model number 2632. 
     Referring to FIG. 4, inner rail  102  is attached to intermediate assembly  60  and outer rail  100  is attached to lower assembly  20  (not shown). Central piston  54  of plunger  50  attaches to a bottom portion  160  of intermediate assembly  60  to force the intermediate assembly away from lower assembly  20  by telescoping inner rail  102  and central rail  110  relative to outer rail  100 . 
     The angle, θ, between the base of the lower assembly and each rail assembly  40  is between about 30 to about 60 degrees, whereas the angle, θ′, between plunger  50  and the base of lower assembly varies between about zero degrees and about 40 degrees depending on the open position of the computer mount. In a fully extended open position, θ′ is about 40 degrees. In a fully compressed closed position, θ′ is about zero degrees. The incline plane formed by the relative angles of plunger  50  and rail assembly  40  reduces the overall force necessary to compress plunger  50  and thereby translate intermediate assembly  60  along each rail assembly  40  down towards lower assembly  20 . In general, the incline plane configuration, described above, reduces the effective amount of force needed to compress plunger  50  to about 60% of the end-on force. For example, a plunger requiring about 20 pounds of end-on force when placed in the above configurations can be compressed by applying about 12 pounds of force normal to top surface of the intermediate assembly. Of course, plunger  50  can be made with different end-on compression forces and the relative angles, θ and θ′, adjusted to reduce the effective amount of compression force needed to translate intermediate assembly  60  towards lower assembly  20 . 
     Referring to FIG. 5, locking support platform  30  includes locking side clips  35  which move to accommodate eight differences of laptop computers. Platform  30  also includes a U-shaped section  34  and a mating, T-shaped section  36  which are movable apart from one another in a horizontal direction to accommodate differences in the length of the laptop computer. Differences in the width of the laptop computer are accommodated by adjusting a movable stop  37  of U-shaped section  34 . Once the platform  30  has been adjusted to accommodate the computer, U-shaped section  34  is secured, e.g., with bolts (not shown), and T-shaped section  36  is secured with a locking mechanism  90  (FIG.  7 ), to a base of platform  30  (not shown). Locking mechanism  90  allows T-shaped section  36  to be slidably moved in the horizontal direction (arrows), such that the computer can be easily removed and replaced onto platform  30 . Platform  30  also can include a high intensity lamp  32  and a screen support member  37  having a face  39  which attaches to a laptop computer screen (not shown) to support and steady the screen. 
     FIG. 6 shows mounting unit  10  in the low or closed position (e.g., placed beneath the dashboard, as viewed from the driver&#39;s side, toward the rear of the vehicle) with the locking support platform  30  removed for easier viewing of the mounting unit components. To release the computer mount from a low to high or open position, the locking pin  25  (e.g., located on the left of the base of the mount at the driver&#39;s side), is pulled away from the lower assembly to allow plunger  50  to translate the intermediate assembly  60  along rail assembly  40 . 
     Referring to FIG. 7, the mounting unit is repositioned to a low position (e.g., out of a deployed air bag zone), by simply pushing locking support platform  30  in a downward manner, arrow  200 , until the intermediate assembly reaches its closed position (FIG.  6 ). The entire procedure is accomplished in seconds. In the lowest position, intermediate assembly  60  and rail assembly  40  are received within lower assembly  20 . 
     Referring to FIG. 8, mounting unit  10  is adjustable to intermediate positions, i.e., between the low and high positions, by engaging locking pin  25  with one of stops  45  on intermediate assembly  60 . For ease of viewing, only a portion of the lower and intermediate assemblies are shown. In an intermediate position, the force (arrow  210 ) from plunger  50  (not shown), i.e., urging intermediate assembly  60  towards the highest position, causes a surface  145  of stops  45  to abut an end  155  of pin  25 . If a higher intermediate position is desired, pin  25  is pulled to disengage end  155  from surface  145  and the plunger forces intermediate assembly  60  to a higher position. At the desired height, pin  25  is released and spring  156  urges end  155  back toward stops  45 . Alternatively, if a lower position is desired, the operator simply compresses (arrow  220 ) intermediate assembly to the desired height. As the operator compresses, end  155  slides over a top surface  146  of stops  45  while spring  156  forces end  155  towards intermediate assembly  60 . 
     When the laptop computer is in either the high or low position, the locking adjustable computer mount keyboard can be tilted, swiveled in either direction or repositioned for use by either the operator or the passenger of a vehicle. 
     While the mounting unit has been designed at the outset for vehicles, the mount has the ability to expand, thereby making it capable of being utilized out of the vehicle as well; in cramped spaces in an office setting or to enhance ergonomic portability, for example. 
     Still other embodiments are within the scope of the claims.