Abstract:
This invention relates to a mechanism for attaching shelving, hooks, and organizers to a vehicle seatback. The attachment mechanism fits over the vehicle seat headrest posts, providing stability to the shelving, hooks, or organizers. The mechanism is formed as a single piece, thus it can be installed and removed without any additional components such as screws, bolts, straps, or other parts.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No, 13/789,771, filed Mar. 8, 2013, which is incorporated by reference for all purposes. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    There are a number of shelving and organizer systems available which mount to the back of the front seat of a motor vehicle. By way of example, these systems may allow a passenger in the back seat to watch a movie on a portable video player placed on a shelf mounted to the seatback, place food or beverages on a shelf mounted to the seatback, use such a shelf as a desktop or workplace, or attach storage or trash containers to the seatback. 
         [0003]    There are a number of mechanisms for temporarily attaching these systems to the seatback without modifying the vehicle, including straps that wrap around the headrest, plastic or cloth cords that wrap around the headrest posts, and hooks that go over the seat itself. However, these mechanisms can loosen, they can interfere with the comfort of the front seat passenger, and since they are not fixed in place, they can move unexpectedly as the vehicle starts, stops, or turns sharply. One recent patent application (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/661,931) discloses a mechanism where two attachment members slip over the two headrest posts. Because each of the attachment members have at least two points of contact with the headrest post, the mechanism is less likely to move unexpectedly as the vehicle starts, stops, or turns sharply. However, this mechanism requires a number of additional parts—washers, nuts, bolts, and the like—in order to fix the position of the two attachment members. Not only do these additional parts lead to additional labor when installing and removing the system, they also can easily be dropped between seats or misplaced while not in use. 
         [0004]    What is needed, therefore, is a mechanism for attaching shelving, hooks, and organizers to a seatback that provides stability, can be easily installed and removed, and yet uses a minimum of parts. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention discloses a mechanism for attaching shelving, hooks, and organizer units to a seatback that provides stability, can be easily installed and removed, and uses a minimum number of parts. In one embodiment of the invention, the mechanism is formed as part of a single piece of material with varying thickness (height) characteristics. One end (the “attachment portion”) interfaces with the headrest post on the front seatback, the other end (the “utility portion”) provides shelving, organizer units, or other passenger amenities. In this embodiment, the attachment portion has a generally-round hole, the hole being slightly larger than the size of a seat headrest post. Adjacent to the hole, the attachment portion has a slot, substantially wider than the size of a headrest post in one dimension and slightly larger than the size of a headrest post in the other dimension. The slot is located at a distance from the first hole such that with the headrest removed, the attachment portion can accommodate the two headrest posts, with one post passing through the hole and the other post passing through the slot. Because one of the holes is about the size of the headrest post while the slot is substantially wider than the hole, the mechanism fits the headrest posts irrespective of the distance between the headrest posts. Further, because the first hole is only slightly larger than the headrest post, left-to-right and front-to-back movement is restricted. Further, because the attachment portion has thickness (height), movement around an axis between the headrest posts is limited. And finally, once the headrest is replaced, up and down movement is further restricted. The utility portion can be formed to accommodate various passenger access positions and, for example, a shelf for a portable DVD player. Thus, this embodiment provides a simple, stable, easily-installed, headrest-mounted shelf without the need for any components other than the shelf itself. Other variations are set forth in the Detailed Description of the Invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  shows a top view of a portion of an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  shows a side view of a portion of an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  shows a side view of a portion of another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  shows a side view of a portion of another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 5 a    shows an angled view of a portion of an embodiment of the present invention after it has been installed onto the seat but before the headrest has been reinstalled, and  FIG. 5 b    shows the same embodiment after the headrest has been reinstalled. 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  shows a top view of a portion of an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  shows a side view of an embodiment of the present invention, suitable for use with a portable DVD player. 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  shows a side view of an embodiment of the present invention, suitable for use with a tablet computer. 
           [0014]      FIG. 9  shows a side view of an embodiment of the present invention, suitable for use with a backseat organizer. 
           [0015]      FIG. 10  shows a side view of an embodiment of the present invention, suitable for use as a food and beverage shelf. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]      FIG. 1  shows a top view of Unit  100  in an embodiment of the present invention. The Attachment Portion  101  of Unit  100  is positioned with respect to the vehicle as indicated by the “front” arrow, and the Utility Portion  102  of Unit Dm is positioned with respect to the vehicle as indicated by the “back” arrow (Utility Portion  102  is not shown in  FIG. 1 ). Hole  103  is substantially round, about 0.70 in diameter, about 1.00 inch from the front of Attachment Portion  101 , and about 1.25 inch from the right side of Attachment Portion  101 . Hole  103  passes entirely through Attachment Portion  101 . Slot  104  is about 0.70 inch from front to back, about 5.00 inches wide, about 1.00 inch from the front of Attachment Portion  101 , and about 1.25 inches from the left side of Attachment Portion  101 . Slot  104  passes entirely through Attachment Portion  101 . Obviously, Hole  103  could be positioned on the left side of Attachment Portion  101  and Slot  104  could be positioned on the right side of Attachment Portion  101  without affecting the invention. Further, Hole  103  and Slot  104  could be larger or smaller to accommodate different sized and spaced headrest posts, with the width of Attachment Portion  101  varying to accommodate Hole  103  and Slot  104 . 
         [0017]      FIG. 2  shows a side view of Unit  100  in an embodiment of the present invention. Attachment Portion  101  is about 1.00 inch thick where Hole  103  and Slot  104  pass through Attachment Portion  101  (Hole  103  is shown in outline in  FIG. 2 ). Utility Portion  102  is about 0.25 inch thick. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , Utility Portion  102  is bent in an “L” shaped, with the front of Utility Portion  102  being attached at a right angle to the back of Attachment Portion  101 ; however, in other embodiments, Utility Portion  102  could be attached at any angle with respect to the back of Attachment Portion  101 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , the Utility Portion  102  is parallel to Attachment Portion  101 ; however, in other embodiments, Utility Portion  102  could be at a different angle to accommodate different functionalities. By way of example and not limitation, if Utility Portion  102  is to be used as a video player shelf, Utility Portion  102  could be angled to accommodate a comfortable viewing angle for the back seat passenger. 
         [0018]    In another embodiment of the present invention, shown in  FIG. 3 , Unit  100  is made of a single piece of rigid plastic material. In this embodiment, the required thickness of Attachment Portion  101  is achieved by bending the plastic in a U-shape. Attachment Portion  101  is made of 0.25 inch thick plastic, but because of the U-shape, it is effectively about 1.00 inch thick where Hole  103  and Slot  104  pass through Attachment Portion  101  (Hole  103  is shown in outline in  FIG. 3 ). This embodiment has the advantage of using a single piece of material rather than two pieces of material that need to be attached. However, depending on the materials and tooling costs, the manufacturing costs associated with forming the U-shaped bend may outweigh the costs of joining a separate Attachment Portion  101  and Utility Portion  102 . 
         [0019]    In another embodiment of the present invention, shown in  FIG. 4 , Unit  100  is made of a single piece of molded rigid material. In this embodiment, the required thickness of Attachment Portion  101  is achieved by having a thicker portion of the mold, and the shape of Utility Portion  102  is achieved by using a mold shaped for the desired functionality. 
         [0020]    In each of the foregoing embodiments, Unit  100  is made from any rigid material that can be manipulated in a manner suitable for the given embodiment. By way of example and not limitation, it could be made from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonate, acrylic, and the like. In those embodiments in which Unit  100  is made of multiple components, the components could be joined using methods known in the art, such as using a solvent or using welding methods. In addition to using rigid plastic materials, Unit  100  could be made of a composite material, such as fiberglass, that could be molded into the desired shape. 
         [0021]      FIG. 5 a    shows an angled view of installation of Unit  100  over headrest Posts  303  and  304  (Headrest  301 , not shown, has been removed from Seat  300 ). Unit  100  is aligned with the seat such that Hole  103  and Slot  104  align with Posts  303  and  304 , respectively, and Unit  100  is lowered with Posts  303  and  304  going through Hole  103  and Slot  104  until Unit  100  comes to rest against the top of Seat  300 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 5 b    shows an angled view of Unit  100  after Headrest  301  has been place back over Posts  303  and  304 . Because Headrest  301  is pushed down over Unit  100  will not move significantly in the Z direction (although if Headrest  301  is raised, Unit  100  may move somewhat in the Z direction, but its movement will be limited by Headrest  300 ). Because of the thickness of Unit  100  where Posts  303  and  304  pass through Hole  103  and Slot  104 , Unit  100  will not rotate significantly around the X axis (running parallel to Unit  100  between Hole  103  and Slot  104 ). Because Hole  103  is roughly the same diameter as Post  303 , Unit  100  will not move significantly in the X direction. Because Hole  103  and Slot  104  are roughly the same width as Posts  303  and  304 , Unit  100  will not move significantly in the Y direction. 
         [0023]    In each of the foregoing embodiments, installation of the unit requires that the consumer remove the headrest. However, in some vehicles, the consumer can raise or lower, but not remove, the headrest.  FIG. 6  shows an embodiment of the present invention suitable for such vehicles. In this embodiment, Attachment Portion  401  has a straight Slot  404  that opens on the right side of Attachment Portion  401  and a curved Slot  403  that opens on the front side of Attachment Portion  401 . In this embodiment, the consumer installs Unit  400  by sliding Slot  404  through the right headrest post at an angle until Slot  403  reaches the left headrest post; the consumer slides the left headrest post through Slot  403  until the post reaches the innermost portion of Slot  403 . Slot  403  is spiral-shaped to limit the amount of movement along the x- and y-axes. 
         [0024]      FIGS. 7-10  show a number of variations on Utility Portion  102 ; these variations are shown using the first embodiment of Attachment Portion  101 , however, it should be clear that any of the embodiments of Attachment Portion  101  can be used. 
         [0025]    In  FIG. 7 , Utility Portion  102  comprises a Shelf  104 , upon which the consumer could place an Entertainment System  105  such as a portable DVD player or video game display onto Shelf  104 , which could be angled so that Entertainment System  105  or would be at a comfortable viewing position for the back seat passenger (as suggested by the outline form of Entertainment System  105 ). 
         [0026]    In  FIG. 8 , Utility Portion  102  comprises a Slot  106  where the consumer could place Tablet Computer  107  into Slot  106 . Slot  106  would be angled so that Tablet Computer  107  would be at a comfortable viewing position for the consumer (as suggested by the outline form of Tablet Computer  107 ). 
         [0027]    In  FIG. 9 , Utility Portion  102  comprises a Hook  108 , from which the consumer could hang a backseat Organizer  109 , Backpack no or Handbag  111  (as suggested by the outline form of Handbag in). 
         [0028]    In  FIG. 10 , Utility Portion  102  comprises Shelf  112  which comprises Lip  113  and Cup Holder  114  so that the consumer could place food and a beverage on Shelf  112 . 
         [0029]    While specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying Claims.