Patent Publication Number: US-2005121579-A1

Title: Multifunctional mounting device for automobiles

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates generally to a multifunctional mounting device for automobiles and, more particularly, to a multifunctional mounting device for automobiles, which is capable of mounting conveniences, such as a global positioning system for indicating the current location, destination and shortest course reaching the destination of an automobile during driving, a radar detector, a mobile phone, a photo frame, accessories and a mirror, on a random portion of an automobile at a random angle.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      In general, an automobile is equipped with various conveniences used during driving, or a driver may purchase conveniences and mount them on the inside of the automobile in case of need.  
      The conveniences include a Global Positioning System (GPS), a radar detector, a mobile phone, a photo frame, accessories and a mirror. In the past, such conveniences are mounted on the front panel of an automobile at appropriate locations using a conventional mounting device equipped with a double-sided adhesive tape.  
      However, the conventional mounting device may be removed from the front panel due to the weakening of the adhesive force of the double-sided adhesive tape when a certain period has elapsed after the attachment of the conventional mounting device. To avoid this problem, there has been used a method of directly attaching conveniences to an automobile using screws. However, this method is problematic in that screw holes are formed on the automobile and remain and, thus, the appearance of the automobile is deteriorated.  
      For a scheme to overcome this problem, there has been proposed a conventional nondestructive mounting device for mounting conveniences on the inside of a windshield. The conventional nondestructive mounting device is described with reference to an example of mounting a GPS or radar detector below.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a conventional nondestructive mounting device  100  is constructed in such a way that suction pads  110  sticking to the inside surface of the windshield (not shown) of an automobile are attached to the first ends of finger members  120  and an attachment panel  130  is hingedly attached to the second ends of the finger members  120 , thus allowing a radar detector  140  to be easily rotated.  
      The attachment panel  130  is formed in such a way that two guide projections  132  and  1321  are formed on both sides of a rectangular panel  131 , respectively, a grip  133  is formed at the center of the lower portion of the rectangular pane  131 , and an elastic piece  135  provided with a first catch  134  is extended from the grip  133  and integrated with the rectangular panel  131 .  
      Two guide rails  141  and  141 ′, into which the guide projections  132  and  132 ′ are inserted in a sliding fashion, are formed to be spaced apart from each other by a specific distance. A second catch  142  is integrally formed at the center of the rear surface of the radar detector  140  to be interlocked with the first catch  134 .  
      The radar detector  140  is attached to the nondestructive conventional mounting device in such a way as to insert the guide projections  132  and  132 ′ of the rectangular panel  131  into the guide rails  141  and  141 ′ and move the attachment panel  130  to the second catch  142  of the radar detector  140 .  
      When the first catch  134  of the attachment panel  130  reaches the second catch  142  of the radar detector  140 , the first catch  134  moves over the second catch  142  while the elastic piece is bent. At the same time that the first catch  142  has moved over the second catch  142 , the elastic piece  135  is restored to the initial state thereof by the elastic force thereof, and the first catch  134  is securely interlocked with the second catch  142 , thus preventing the radar detector  140  from being removed from the conventional nondestructive mounting device.  
      In that state, the suction pads  110  attached to the finger members  120  are made to stick on the inside surface of the windshield of the automobile, and the radar detector  140  is located at an appropriate position by pulling the lower end of the radar detector  140  downward, thus completing the mounting of the radar detector  140 .  
      However, the conventional non-destructive mounting device can be attached to the windshield of the automobile but cannot be attached to the front panel of the automobile, so that the attached locations of the conventional nondestructive mounting device are restricted to specific locations. Furthermore, when objects are mounted using the conventional nondestructive mounting device, the guide rails  141  and  141 ′ corresponding to the guide projections  131  and  132 ′ and the second catch  142  must be previously formed on the objects to be mounted, so that objects, which can be mounted using the non-destructive conventional mounting device are restricted to specific objects having the guide rails  141  and  141 ′ and the second catch  142 .  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional mounting device, which is capable of mounting a variety of conveniences on a random portion of an automobile, such as a front panel or windshield, at a random angle.  
      In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a multifunctional mounting device for automobiles, including a fixed body, a first attachment body provided under the fixed body to be attached to a portion of an automobile, a movable body provided with a ball joint to be coupled with an upper portion of the fixed body, and an attachment/detachment means for selectively attaching and detaching an object to be mounted.  
      Preferably, the attachment/detachment means may be constructed and placed in an upper space of the movable body in such a way that a rubber cover, on a circumference of a lower surface of which a rim is integrally formed, is provided, a plate with magnets attached thereon is inserted into a lower space of the rubber cover, a space member is attached to a lower surface of the plate so that a lower end of the space member is level with a lower end of the rim of the rubber cover and a second attachment member is attached to the spacer member and the rim.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a view showing the use of a conventional mounting device;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing the combination of the conventional mounting device with an object to be mounted;  
       FIGS. 3   a  to  3   c  are views showing the operation of the conventional mounting device;  
       FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a mounting device according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  is a longitudinal section of the mounting device of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 6  is a view showing the use of the mounting device of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components.  
      A multifunctional mounting device for automobiles according to the present invention, as shown in FIGS.  4  to  6 , includes a fixed body  1 , a first attachment member  2 , an attachment/detachment means  3  and a movable body  4 .  
      In that case, the fixed body  1  allows the multifunctional mounting device to be attached to a specific location, such as a front panel, a windshield, a door trim, and the inside of a side door. The first attachment member  2  having a specific thickness is provided under the fixed body  1 . A ball joint socket  51  is formed on the upper portion of the fixed body  1  to receive the ball joint  4  of the movable body  4 .  
      A vent hole  52  is formed under the ball joint socket  51  to allow the ball joint  5  to be easily inserted into the ball joint socket  51  by discharging air from the ball joint socket  51  when the ball joint  5  is inserted into the ball joint socket  51 . A holding projection  52  is formed on the upper portion of the ball joint socket  51  in a ring shape to prevent the ball joint  5  from being removed from the ball joint socket  51 .  
      The first attachment member  2  is preferably formed of a foam sheet having a specific thickness with an adhesive applied to both surfaces thereof, rather than a double-sided adhesive tape, so that the first attachment member  2  is attached to a support surface while being pushed by the force of a user.  
      The attachment/detachment means  3  includes a rubber cover  31 , magnets  32  and  32   a , a plate  33 , a spacer member  34  and a second attachment member  35 .  
      The rubber cover  31  is made of rubber to prevent a sentiment of unfamiliarity and noise when an object is attached to the mounting device, and to prevent the reflection of light when a user drives an automobile. The rubber cover  31  is closed at the top thereof with a space formed therein and a rim  31  formed on the circumference thereof.  
      The magnets  31  and  32   a  provide a magnetic force required to attach a thick steel plate  210  to an object  200  to be mounted. The magnets  32  and  32   a  are formed to be attached to the upper surface of the plate so that the magnetic force of the magnets  32  and  32   a  is spread out and applied.  
      The magnets  32  and  32   a  attached to the plate  33  to be upwardly projected are inserted into two recesses  31   b  and  31   b ′ formed in the inside of the rubber cover  31 , thus being prevented from being removed during the user thereof.  
      The spacer member  34  is provided under the plate  33  and is formed to have a height corresponding to that of the rim so that it can be fixedly placed in the space  41  of the movable body  4  by the second attachment member  35 .  
      The ball joint  5  is integrally formed on the lower surface of the movable body  4 , and is inserted into the ball joint socket  51  of the fixed body  1  to be adjusted at a random angle.  
      The multifunctional mounting device of the present invention is assembled in such a way that the first attachment member  2  is attached to the lower surface of the fixed body  1 , the plate  33  with the magnets  32  and  32   a  attached thereon is inserted into the rubber cover  31  in the state where the rim  31   a  of the rubber cover  31  is stretched out, and the space member  34  is attached to the lower surface of the plate  33 .  
      Thereafter, the second attachment member  35  having a diameter corresponding to that of the rim  31  is attached to the lower surface of the spacer member  34 , and the second attachment member  35  attached to the spacer member  34  is inserted into the space  41  formed in the upper portion of the movable body  4 . Subsequently, the ball joint  5  forming the lower part of the movable body  4  is inserted into the ball joint socket  51  formed in the upper part of the fixed body  1 . With the above-described procedure, the mounting device of the present invention is assembled.  
      Thereafter, the mounting device of the present invention is attached to a desired portion of an automobile by removing a protective film from the first attachment member  2  and pushing the first attachment member  2  to the portion. When the object  200  to be mounted, as shown in  FIG. 6 , is placed on the rubber cover  31  above the movable body  4 , the object  200  is attached to the mounting device of the present invention at the same time that the steel plate  210  located under the object  200  is attracted by the magnets  32  and  32   a . In this state, if the movable body  4  is rotated to a specific angle while being held by the hand, the position of the object  200  attached to the upper surface of the mounting device of the present invention can be desirably adjusted.  
      As described above, the present invention provides the mounting device, in which the movable body with the magnets inserted therein is coupled to the fixed body through the ball joint, so that a variety of conveniences can be used in the state of being attached to a random portion of an automobile, such as a front panel, at a random angle. Furthermore, the mounting device of the present invention does not damage a portion to which the mounting device is attached, thus preventing damage to the automobile due to the mounting of conveniences.  
      Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.