Patent Publication Number: US-2006016945-A1

Title: Portable podium

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/589,595, filed Jul. 21, 2004. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to portable podiums. More particularly, the present invention relates to an adjustable, collapsible podium and carrying case.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      The use of podiums for delivering speeches and sermons and for holding music for musicians is well known. They are useful for holding materials when delivering the speech or during a musical performance. Many lecturers, preachers, and musicians travel from location to location for delivery of the speech or sermon or to perform, and an appropriate podium may not be available at a particular site. If a podium is available, it may be a fixed podium at the wrong height for a particular individual. It would be desirable to provide a podium which is both adjustable in height, angle or podium surface, which is collapsible, and which may be easily disassembled into parts, stored in a carrying bag, and reassembled and adjusted at a new location. Such a podium should be light in weight, yet stable during use.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,620, issued Apr. 1, 1997 to Owen, describes a portable desk having a base plate securable to a vehicle floorboard by conventional fasteners, such as bolts or screws. A centrally disposed fixed cylindrical pedestal extends upwardly from the base plate into an open bottom end of a tubular vertical support column. A first setscrew secures the support column in a rotationally and vertically adjusted position on the pedestal. A mounting standard includes a straight lower leg portion secured in a telescopically adjusted position within an open upper end of the vertical support column by a second setscrew. A toggle clamping screw in conjunction with a pivotal mounting bracket adjustably secures a support platform to an upper end of the mounting socket. A desk surface may be secured to the support platform by conventional fasteners, such as screws. The portable desk may be used with the desk surface in a vehicle, or detached from the pedestal and secured to a conventional microphone stand or other support for use as a portable podium at oral presentations.  
      U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0066630, published Jun. 6, 2002, for Brown, Sr., describes a multi-configurable portable desk or table companion that is adjustable to permit it to be folded for transport and configured to one of a desk state, podium state, easel state, music stand, or artist table state. The desk companion can also be used to support a laptop computer. The multi-configurable portable desk companion includes two arm members angularly adjustable via a lever-operated adjustment clamp and a multi-positionable desktop surface angularly adjusted by a lever-operated adjustment clamp. The two arm members are coupled to a collapsible tripod leg assembly to vary the height of the multi-positionable desktop surface.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,553, issued Feb. 3, 1998 to Cooper, describes a combination stand and rack releasably secured atop the stand. The stand is convertible between an extended use position and a collapsed storage position. The rack includes a hollow spine for storage of the stand in the collapsed storage position. The stand comprises a main telescopic post and a plurality of support legs, all of which are secured to a common housing. The main post extends upwardly from the housing and the legs are attached to the housing by connectors, which are bendable through an angle of more than 90°, such that the legs fold upwardly beside the main post in the storage position and unfold downwardly from the housing to the use position.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 2,567,594, issued Sep. 11, 1951 to Bemis, describes a display stand having an adjustable tilting upper surface and a telescoping support. U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,820, issued Jan. 8, 1991 to Scott, describes a collapsible display stand contained in a travel case which has a telescoping support employing spring-loaded fastening devices for supporting the telescoping portions in the open position.  
      None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a portable podium solving the aforementioned problems is desired.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The portable podium of the present invention includes a podium top or rack having a tray connected with a telescoping support of nested tubing by a securing wing bolt, allowing the angle of the podium to be adjusted. The nested tubing is preferably of three 16-inch lengths having wing screws for locking in an extended position, and which can be loosened to collapse the tubing to a retracted position. A base has a centrally disposed, externally threaded connector extending upward to receive the lower end of the nested tubing in a lower wall thereof. A carrying case is provided for easy transport of the collapsed podium. The podium is easily assembled and can be adjusted to the user&#39;s height, whether standing or sitting.  
      These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a portable podium according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the portable podium of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a side elevation view of the portable podium of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of a carrying case for the disassembled portable podium of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of the carrying case of  FIG. 4  with the straps disconnected and the flap raised to expose storage pockets. 
    
    
      Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      The present invention is a portable podium that may be disassembled into its component parts and carried in a case. The component parts include a podium rack having support flanges which attaches to the upper portion of adjustable nested support tubes, and a base.  
      Referring to the  FIGS. 1-3 , the portable podium of the present invention is referred to by reference number  10  and includes a podium rack  12  supported by an adjustable vertical nested support  22  and a podium base  42 . Portable podium rack  12  has a back plate  14  with a tray flange  16  at its base for holding papers or the like. Rack back plate  14  is mounted on first and second support flanges  18  in the central portion of the back plate rear surface  20 . Adjustable vertical support  22  is made up of adjustable nesting tubes, including upper support tube  24 , central support tube  34 , and lower support tube  38 . Back plate mounting support flanges  18  are releasably attached to the upper end portion  30  of upper support tube  24 , and podium rack  12  is adjustably held at a desired angle relative to vertical support  22 , by securing wing bolt  28 .  
      The overall height of the vertical support  22  is adjusted by adjusting the location of upper support tube  24  within central support tube  34  and by adjusting the location of central support tube  34  within lower support tube  38 . Upper support tube  24  is secured at a desired height by upper adjustment wing screw  36  in the upper portion of central support tube  34 , and central support tube  34  is secured at a desired height by lower adjustment wing screw  40  in the upper portion of lower support tube  38 . Lower support tube  38  is supported on podium base  42 .  
      As seen in the exploded view of  FIG. 2 , the upper portion  30  of upper nesting support tube  24  has opposed securing bolt receiving bores  26  corresponding with aligned flange receiving bores  25  within back plate mounting support flanges  18  in order to receive rack mounting securing wing bolt  28  for pivotal rotation therearound. The second back plate mounting support flange  18  has a threaded receiving bore  25 . The rack mounting securing wing bolt  28  is inserted through the first support flange  18 , through receiving bores  26  of upper support tube  24 , and then fastened within the threaded receiving bore  25  in the second support flange  18 . The angle of the podium rack  12  may then be adjusted by rotating the securing wing bolt  28  to loosen the podium rack  12 , rotating the rack  12  to the desired angle, and tightening the wing bolt  28  in the threaded receiving bore  25  of the second support flange  18 , thus maintaining the podium rack  12  in the adjusted position.  
      Central adjustment wing screw  36  is inserted into upper threaded bore  44  of central support tube  34  to impinge on upper support tube  24  at a desired height, thereby locking the upper support tube  24  in position. Likewise, lower adjustment wing screw  40  is inserted into lower threaded bore  46  of lower support tube  38  so as to impinge on central support tube  34  at a desired height. Vertical support  22  has a lower wall  50  formed at the base of lower support tube  38  having an axially mounted vertical support stud  52  extending downward to be received by internally threaded stud receiver  54  centrally located on podium base  42 .  
       FIG. 3  shows a side elevation view of the assembled portable podium  10  illustrating the podium rack  12  as held by back plate mounting support flanges  18  which are adjustably fastened to the upper portion of adjustable vertical support  22  by wing bolt  28  which, in turn, is supported by vertical support stud  52 . The lower portions of upper nesting support tube  24  and central nesting support tube  20  are shown in hidden lines adjusted to a desired height (upper and lower adjustment screws are not shown). Vertical support lower wall  50  and vertical support stud  52  are shown in hidden lines.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , there is shown a carrying case  60  for carrying the disassembled portable podium  10 . Carrying case  60  has sidewalls  62 , a bottom wall  64 , a rear wall  66 , a front wall  68 , and upper cover/flap  70 . A handle strap  72  is attached to upper cover portion  76 , and a shoulder strap  74  is attached at opposite ends to the upper portions of sidewalls  62 , respectively. Front flap  78  is connected with the front wall  68  at bottom wall  64  by upper straps  82  and lower straps  80  fastened by strap connecting snaps  84 . As seen in  FIG. 5 , front flap  78  and upper cover  70  may be opened by disconnecting strap snaps  84  revealing storage pockets  86 ,  88 , and  90 . Front flap  78  may form a pocket opened by zipper  92 . A logo  94  or other identification may be placed anywhere on the bag  60 , such as on the upper cover portion  76  above zipper  92 . Bag  60  may be made of leather or other appropriate material, and other types of fasteners may be used in place of snaps  84 .  
      The portable podium  10  is assembled by assembling the nesting support tubes  24 ,  34 , and  38  and tightening the wing screws  56  and  58 . The adjustable vertical support thus formed is screwed into the podium base  42 . Podium rack back plates  18  are placed over the upper end  30  of upper support tube  24  such that bores  25  and  26  are aligned and securing wing bolt  28  inserted therethrough. Securing wing bolt  28  engages the threaded bore of second back plate  18  and is turned to a snug position against the support tube  24 . The height of the podium may then be adjusted by individually loosening wing screw  36  and  40 , pulling upward or pushing downward on the appropriate support tube, and then tightening the wing screws to secure the upper rack podium rack  12  at the desired height. The angle of the rack  12  may then be adjusted by loosening securing wing bolt  28 , rotating podium rack  12  to the desired angle, and then tightening securing wing bolt  28 .  
      The portable podium of the present invention may be made of appropriate materials such as aluminum. Although the nesting support tubes are shown as cylindrical, any nesting wall shape may be employed in the invention, such as square tubes. Although the sections of vertical support  22  are shown secured by wing screws  36  and  40  clamped against the wall of the inner tube, it will be understood that any means known in the art for temporarily clamping or locking telescoping tubes together may be substituted for wing screws  36  and  40 . The vertical support segments  24 ,  34  and  38  may be any desired length. An exemplary dimension is sixteen inches, which would allow the portable podium  10  to be adjustable in height for any use from tabletop through a freestanding position.  
      It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.