Patent Publication Number: US-2023160418-A1

Title: Wall-mounted holder

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Technical Field 
     The present invention relates generally to a fixing apparatus for fixing photographic equipment, and more particularly to a wall-mounted holder for fixing the photographic equipment to a wall of a building. 
     Description of Related Art 
     Generally, photographic equipment for monitoring, such as a monitoring camera, is fixed to a wall of a building via a wall-mounted holder. There are many kinds of the wall-mounted holder, such as “Monitor supporter” of Taiwan utility model patent No. M251416. The monitor supporter consists of a base, a fixing seat, a connecting member with a ball head, a top cap, a knob, and a screw. A protruding seat is disposed at a middle of the base. The fixing seat is connected to the protruding seat via a screw. A middle section of the fixing seat is recessed to form a neck portion. The neck portion has a slanted surface at a top edge. The ball head of the connecting member abuts against a top end of the fixing seat. The ball head is connected to a screw. The top cap covers the connecting member. A knob is disposed at a side of the top cap. A screw of the knob protrudes into the neck portion of the fixing seat to abut against the slanted surface. When the knob is rotated to lock, the screw will move along the slanted surface to fix the neck portion of the fixing seat. Thus, the top cap could be engaged with the fixing seat. Simultaneously, the top cap is driven by the screw of the knob to move toward the base, thereby tightly engaging the fixing seat and the connecting member. 
     Since the monitor supporter has a lot of components, including the base, the fixing seat, the connecting member, the top cap, the knob, the screw, and so on, the assembly efficiency is reduced and the manufacturing cost is increased. 
     Additionally, the screw touches the slanted surface of the neck portion of the fixing seat via a “point”, which is a point contact. Therefore, when the knob is rotated to drive the screw to move toward the fixing seat, the neck portion of the fixing seat could be easily broken due to a small contact area of the point contact, resulting in the loose connection between the fixed seat and the ball joint and even permanent break to the monitor supporter. Additionally, the screw used to fasten the wall-mounted holder to the wall is exposed outside, which is not aesthetic. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a wall-mounted holder with a simplified structure (i.e. reducing the components thereof), which could still stably hold the photographic equipment. 
     The present inventive subject matter provides a seat, a cover, and a connecting member. The seat includes a base and a post, wherein the post is connected to the base and protrudes along an axis. A top end of the post constitutes a supporting portion. The cover includes a tube portion and a base portion, wherein the base portion is connected to a bottom end of the tube portion. The tube portion covers the post of the seat, the base portion is connected to the seat. An inner surface of a top end of the tube portion constitutes an abutting portion, and the top end of the tube portion has an opening. The connecting member includes a ball joint and a shaft, wherein the ball joint is located between the top end of the post of the seat and the top end of the tube portion of the cover. An end of the shaft is connected to the ball joint, and the other end of the shaft passes through the opening, which is adapted to be engaged with the photographic equipment. 
     With such design, when a force is exerted to rotate the seat, the cover could be rotated relative to the seat to drive the opening on the top portion of the cover to get close to the post of the seat. Therefore, the ball joint of the connecting member could be pushed to move toward the supporting portion of the seat, so that the ball joint of the connecting member could be stably mounted between the supporting portion of the seat and the abutting portion of the cover. The shaft of the connecting member passes through the opening on the tube portion of the cover, so that the photographic equipment could be fastened to the shaft. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of the wall-mounted holder of a first embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  2    is an exploded view of the wall-mounted holder of the first embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  3    is a sectional view taken along the  3 - 3  line in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4    is a side view of the wall-mounted holder shown in  FIG.  3   , wherein the connecting member is moved; 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective view of the wall-mounted holder of a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG.  6    is a section view taken along  6 - 6  line in  FIG.  5   ; 
         FIG.  7    is a perspective view of the wall-mounted holder of a third embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG.  8    is an exploded view of the wall-mounted holder of the third embodiment of the present invention; and, 
         FIG.  9    is a section view taken along  9 - 9  line in  FIG.  7   . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As illustrated in  FIG.  1    to  FIG.  4   , a wall-mounted holder  100  of a first embodiment according to the present invention includes a seat  10 , a cover  20 , and a connecting member  30 . 
     The seat  10  includes a base  12  and a post  14  that is connected to the base  12 . In the current embodiment, the base  12  is disc-like and has a circumference  12   a.  An axis L is defined to pass through the base  12 , wherein the post  14  is formed by protruding along the axis L. In the current embodiment, the axis L is perpendicular to the base  12 , and the post  14  is integrally formed with the base  12  as a monolithic unit. The base  12  has a plurality of perforations  12   b  which are adapted to be passed through by fasteners (such as screws). The base  12  could be fixed to a wall of a building by using the fasteners. The post  14  has a top end that is opposite to an end connected to the base  12 . The top end of the post  14  has a supporting portion  14   a  that is a concave surface formed by recessing into the top end of the post  14 . 
     The cover  20  has a tube portion  22  and a base portion  24  which is connected to a bottom end of the tube portion  22 . The tube portion  22  is a hollowed cone body and has a top end that is opposite to the bottom end. The base portion  24  is a disc body having an annular frame  24   a.  A bottom end of the tube portion  22  has an outer diameter that is greater than an outer diameter of the top end of the tube portion  22 . The top end of the tube portion  22  is spherical and has an opening  221 . In the current embodiment, the opening  221  is an elongated slot and has two closed ends  221   a,    221   b.  An inner surface of the top end of the tube portion  22  constitutes an abutting portion  222 . More specifically, the abutting portion  222  is constituted by an inner surface of a curved wall around the opening  221 . 
     The connecting member  30  includes a ball joint  32  and a shaft  34 . An end of the shaft  34  is connected to the ball joint  32 , wherein the shaft  34  has a threading portion  34   a.  During an assembling process, a portion of the ball joint  32  abuts against the supporting portion  14   a  at the top end of the post  14  of the seat  10 , and the cover  20  covers the seat  10  and the ball joint  32  to allow the shaft  34  to pass through the opening  221  of the cover  20 . As illustrated in  FIG.  3    and  FIG.  4   , more specifically, the tube portion  22  of the cover  20  fits around the post  14  of the seat  10 , and the base portion  24  of the cover  20  covers the base  12  of the seat  10 , so that the annular frame  24   a  of the base portion  24  circles around the circumference  12   a  of the base  12 . The threading portion  34   a  of the shaft  34  passing through the cover  20  is adapted to be connected to photographic equipment (not shown). 
     When the seat  10  and cover  20  are engaged, the ball joint  32  is retained between the supporting portion  14   a  of the post  14  of the seat  10  and the abutting portion  222  of the tube portion  22  of the cover  20 . Since the seat  10  and the cover  20  are tightly engaged, the abutting portion  222  of the cover  20  presses the ball joint  32  downward (namely toward the post  14 ), thereby allowing a part of a spherical surface of the ball joint  32  to tightly abut against the supporting portion  14   a.    
     In the current embodiment, the seat  10  and the cover  20  are engaged by threading. The circumference  12   a  of the base  12  of the seat  10  is disposed with an external thread  12   c,  and an inner surface of the annular frame  24   a  of the base portion  24  of the cover  20  has an internal thread  24   b.  By simply engaging the internal thread  24   b  with the external thread  12   c,  the base portion  24  of the cover  20  could be engaged with the base  12  of the seat  10 . Furthermore, by driving the cover  20  to rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise relative to the seat  10  that is fixed, a force exerted to the ball joint  32  by the cover  20  could be adjusted. When the force is great, the shaft  34  is hard to swing (namely, the swinging position of the shaft  34  could be fixed), so that the photographic equipment could be set at a predetermined camera angle to film or record. When the force is reduced, the swinging position of the shaft  34  could be adjusted easily. In the current embodiment, since the supporting portion  14   a  is a concave surface, the spherical surface of the ball joint  32  could be easily slid to adjust the swinging position of the shaft  34 . Additionally, in the current embodiment, the opening  221  of the cover  20  is the slot with the two closed ends  221   a ,  221   b,  as shown in  FIG.  4   . The slot could guide the shaft  34  to swing in a predetermined direction, and the closed ends  221   a,    221   b  of the slot could be abutted by the shaft  34 . 
     It should be noted that except threading engagement, the seat  10  and the cover  20  could be engaged in other manners. For example, in another embodiment, the base  12  could be disposed with a fastening structure (e.g. protrusions), and the base portion  24  could be disposed with a corresponding fastening structure (e.g. hooks), so that the hooks of the base portion  24  could be hooked to the protrusions of the base  12  to tightly engage the seat  10  and the cover  20 . 
     In order to stabilize the photographic equipment, a rotary plate  36  could be optionally disposed to the shaft  34 , wherein the rotary plate  36  is threadedly connected to the shaft  34 . A side of the rotary plate  36  is adapted to be abutted against by photographic equipment. Besides, an anti-slip cushion  38  could be mounted at the side of the rotary plate  36 . After the photographic equipment is connected to the shaft  34 , the anti-slip cushion  38  is disposed between the rotary plate  36  and the photographic equipment, thereby enhancing the stabilization of the photographic equipment. 
     The wall-mounted holder of other embodiments that could achieve the same objective are described below. 
     As illustrated in  FIG.  5   , the wall-mounted holder  200  of a second embodiment according to the present invention has almost the same structure as that of the first embodiment, except the cover. The following description only mentions the differences. 
     A cover  40  of the wall-mounted holder  200  of the second embodiment has a tube portion  42  and a base portion  44 , wherein the base portion  44  is connected to a bottom end of the tube portion  42 . The base portion  44  is engaged with the base  12  of the seat  10  in a manner of threading. A top end of the tube portion  42 , which is opposite to the bottom end, has an opening  421 , wherein the opening  421  is a circular hole. As illustrated in  FIG.  6   , an inner surface of the tube portion around the opening  421  constitutes an abutting portion  422 . When the wall-mounted holder  200  is assembled completed, a top half portion of the spherical surface of the ball joint  32  of the connecting member  30  touches the abutting portion  422 , and a bottom half portion of the spherical surface of the ball joint  32  touches the supporting portion  14   a.  Preferably, each of the abutting portion  422  and the supporting portion  14   a  is constituted by a curved surface. Similarly, by simply screwing the cover  40  in a clockwise direction or a counter-clockwise direction, the cover  40  could be moved up or down along the axis L relative to the seat  10 , thereby pressing or releasing the ball joint  32  of the connecting member  30 . Since the opening  421  of the wall-mounted holder  200  is circular, the shaft  34  of the connecting member  30  could be arbitrarily swung and adjusted within the circular hole, thereby enhancing the flexibility of adjustment. 
     As illustrated to  FIG.  7    to  FIG.  9   , the wall-mounted holder  300  of a third embodiment according to the present invention has almost the same structure as that of the first embodiment, except the cover. The following description only mentions the differences. 
     A cover  50  of the third embodiment has a tube portion  52  and a base portion  54  that is connected to a bottom end of the tube portion  52 , wherein the tube portion  52  is constituted by a tube body  521  and a cap  522 . A bottom end of the tube body  521  is connected to the base portion  54  that is constituted by a disc body. A top end of the tube body  521  has a circular hole  521   a.  The tube body  521  forms a blocking edge  521   b  around a circumference of the circular hole  521   a.  The cap  522  is approximately semispherical. The cap  522  has an opening  522   a  on top, wherein the opening  522   a  is an elongated slot. The inner surface of the cap  522  around the opening  522   a  constitutes an abutting portion  522   b . The cap  522  has a flange  522   c  protruding outward in a radial direction at the bottom. As illustrated in  FIG.  9   , when the wall-mounted holder  300  of a third embodiment is assembled, the cap  522  is located in the tube body  521 , and the flange  522   c  of the cap  522  abuts against the blocking edge  52  lb. Thus, the cap  522  is rotatably connected to the top end of the tube body  521 , wherein the cap  522  could be rotated along the axis L. With such design, the shaft  34  of the connecting member  30  could not only be arbitrarily adjusted in any radial direction of the tube body  521 , but also be swung along the elongated slot (namely the opening  522   a ) to change the swinging position. 
     It must be pointed out that the embodiment described above is only a preferred embodiments of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.