Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6966532?dq=5,941,947
Timestamp: 2014-08-29 10:28:27
Document Index: 348461180

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 110', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 42', 'art 33', 'art 42', 'art 41', 'art 42', 'art 42', 'art 41', 'art 93', 'art 93', 'art 33']

Patent US6966532 - Display orientation adjustment apparatus - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsA movable part 10 of a display orientation adjustment apparatus H is attached to a rear surface of a display, and pivotably supported by a base 20, and its pivotal motion is restricted by a stopper 50 within a permissible range. If the movable part 10 is pivoted beyond the restricted range by a pivoting...http://www.google.com/patents/US6966532?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6966532 - Display orientation adjustment apparatusAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6966532 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/763,177Publication dateNov 22, 2005Filing dateJan 26, 2004Priority dateFeb 3, 2003Fee statusPaidAlso published asCN1333587C, CN1527326A, DE602004026950D1, EP1443261A2, EP1443261A3, EP1443261B1, US20040149873Publication number10763177, 763177, US 6966532 B2, US 6966532B2, US-B2-6966532, US6966532 B2, US6966532B2InventorsTakashi Ishizaki, Kenichi HirasawaOriginal AssigneeMurakami Corporation, Nec-Mitsubishi Electric Visual Systems CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (16), Referenced by (18), Classifications (20), Legal Events (9) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetDisplay orientation adjustment apparatusUS 6966532 B2Abstract A movable part 10 of a display orientation adjustment apparatus H is attached to a rear surface of a display, and pivotably supported by a base 20, and its pivotal motion is restricted by a stopper 50 within a permissible range. If the movable part 10 is pivoted beyond the restricted range by a pivoting force of a predetermined magnitude or greater, the stopper 50 is released. Therefore, even if the display is pivoted inadvertently beyond the permissible range of the pivotal motion, breakage of components thereof would never take place, and its normal state of use can easily be restored.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a display orientation adjustment apparatus for pivotably supporting a display of a computer or a television receiver in a manner that permits the display to rotate on (or pivot about) an axis substantially perpendicular to a screen thereof such that pivotal motion of the display takes place in a plane containing the screen.
Historically, computer or television displays (also called �monitors�) have been viewed only in landscape (horizontal) orientation, and thus landscape displays are now in common use. However, in some particular uses, portrait (vertical) orientation may be preferable. For example, in cases where a user uses a computer as a word-processor to edit or view A4 or letter-size documents, portrait viewing orientation fit to the orientation of the documents would serve to save its screen area and to facilitate editing or other word-processing operations.
Against this backdrop, proposed for example in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3063920 is a display orientation adjustment apparatus (hereinafter referred to as �orientation adjustment apparatus�) for pivotably supporting a display in a manner that permits the display to be rotated 90 degrees on an axis substantially perpendicular to a screen thereof.
The movable part 110 includes a mounting plate 110A attached to the back of the display D, and a flange 110B fixed on the mounting plate 110A. The mounting plate 110A includes four pivotal motion restricting portions 112 each protruding toward the flange 110B. The flange 110B includes a spherical zone portion 113, and a flat portion 114 formed along an outer brim of the spherical zone portion 113. The spherical zone portion 113 includes a surface 113 a (hereinafter referred to as �base-side sliding surface 113 a�) facing toward the base 120, and a surface 113 b (hereinafter referred to as �display-side sliding surface 113 b�) facing toward the display D, each taking the shape of a spherical zone.
The support cap 130 includes a dome portion 131 having the shape of a dome, a pair of wall portions 132 formed inside the dome portion 131 so as to extend toward the display D, and a projection 133 provided at the center of a surface 131 a (hereinafter referred to as �pressing surface 131 a�; see FIG. 16) of the dome portion 131 facing toward the base 120. The pressing surface 131 a is brought into contact with the display-side sliding surface 113 b of the flange 110B.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display orientation adjustment apparatus for supporting a display in a manner that permits the display to pivot about an axis substantially perpendicular to a screen thereof. The display orientation adjustment apparatus includes a movable part attached to a rear surface of the display, a base for pivotably supporting the movable part, and a stopper for restricting a range of pivotal motion of the movable part. The stopper is configured to be released if the movable part is pivoted beyond the restricted range by a pivoting force of a predetermined magnitude or greater.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a display orientation adjustment apparatus as seen from a display side.
FIG. 4 is a view of section taken along line I�I of FIG. 3.
FIG. 6B is a view of section taken along line II�II of FIG. 6A.
FIG. 6D is an elevation of the clutch member as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrowed line III�III of FIG. 6C.
FIG. 6F is an elevation of the support cap as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrowed line IV�IV of FIG. 6E.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A detailed description will now be given of preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings. In describing the embodiments below, rotation of a display D about an axis substantially perpendicular to a screen thereof (see FIG. 12A) will be referred to as �pivot� or pivoting, rotation about a horizontal axis with the top and bottom thereof moved frontward and rearward (see FIG. 12B) will be referred to as �tilt� or tilting, and rotation about a vertical axis with the right and left sides moved frontward and rearward (see FIG. 12C) will be referred to as �swivel� or swiveling.
A first embodiment of the display orientation adjustment apparatus (hereinafter referred to as �orientation adjustment apparatus H�) according to the present invention includes, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a movable part 10 attached to a rear surface of the display D, a base 20 for pivotably supporting the movable part 10, a support cap 30 for pressing the movable part 10 toward a base 20 side, and a corotation restricting member 40 for restricting pivotal motion of the support cap 30. In the support cap 30 is mounted a stopper 50 for restricting a range of pivotal motion of the movable part 10. In this embodiment, the range of pivotal motion of the orientation adjustment apparatus H (i.e., support cap 30 or movable part 10 thereof) within which the display D can be pivoted is set at 90 degrees. This means that the orientation adjustment apparatus H can allow a user to arbitrarily select the orientation (landscape or portrait) of the display D.
The flange 10B includes, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a spherical zone portion 13 having inner and outer surfaces made spherical, and a flat portion 14 formed along an outer brim of the spherical zone portion 13. At four corners of the flat portion 14 are formed mounting holes 14 a each in a position aligned with the corresponding mounting hole 11 a of the mounting plate 10A. In the description that follows, a surface 13 a of the spherical zone portion 13 facing toward the base 20 (see FIG. 2) will be referred to as �base-side sliding surface 13 a�, and a surface 13 b thereof facing toward the display D (see FIG. 1) will be referred to as �display-side sliding surface 13 b�. The base 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a plastic base body 20A fixed on a mount M1 formed on an upper portion at a front surface of a stand M, and a plastic spacer 20B attached to a front opening (display D side opening) of the base body 20A.
The spacer 20B, as shown in FIG. 1, has an annular shape, and a surface 25 thereof facing toward the display D side (hereinafter referred to as �receiving surface 25�) is formed into a spherically-shaped surface having the same curvature as the base-side sliding surface 13 a (see FIG. 2) of the flange 10B. As shown in FIG. 4, the receiving surface 25 is slidably brought into contact with the base-side sliding surface 13 a of the flange 10B.
The dome portion 31, as shown in FIG. 2, has a base 20 side surface 31 a (hereinafter referred to as �pressing surface 31 a�) formed into a spherically-shaped surface having the same curvature as the display-side sliding surface 13 b (see FIG. 1) of the flange 10B. As shown in FIG. 4, the pressing surface 31 a is slidably brought into contact with the display-side sliding surface 31 b of the flange 10B. The dome portion 31 is provided substantially at the center thereof with an insertion hole 21 a through which the shaft part 42 of the corotation restricting member 40 that will be described later can be inserted.
The paired wall portions 32 are, as shown in FIG. 1, arranged on a straight line containing the insertion hole 31 b, and disposed so as to sandwich the insertion hole 31 b. The second engageable part 33 is, as shown in FIG. 1, formed by fitting a clutch member 33B having a generally annular shape into a circular edge portion 33A formed along the circular edge of the insertion hole 31 b. The circular edge portion 33A is formed by depressing part of the display D side surface of the dome portion 31 along the circular edge of the insertion hole 31 b. As shown in FIG. 5, the circular edge portion 33A is provided with four sectorial stepwise portions 33 a, each assuming a segmental shape as viewed from the front (i.e., the display side), in four places spaced at predetermined intervals. On an upper surface (facing toward the display side) of each sectorial stepwise portion 33 a is formed a projection 33 b. The clutch member 33B is, as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D, comprised of a ring-shaped metal sheet having four grooves 33 d recessed toward the circular edge portion 33A. Four sectorial plate portions 33 c disposed between adjacent grooves 33 d each have a notch 33 e formed at an outer circumferential edge thereof. The notches 33 e are disposed in positions aligned with the respective projections 33 b (see FIG. 6F) of the circular edge portion 33A, so that putting the clutch member 33B into the circular edge portion 33A allows the notches 33 e of the clutch member 33B to become fitted on the corresponding projections 33 b of the circular edge portion 33A, thereby bringing the sectorial plate portions 33 c into contact with the corresponding sectorial stepwise portions. The grooves 33 d are formed such that the protruded rear surfaces of the grooves 33 d can be fitted into recessed portions between the sectorial stepwise portions 33 a (see FIG. 6F) of the circular edge portion 33A; thus, putting the clutch member 33B into the circular edge portion 33A allows the rearwardly protruding grooves 33 d to become fitted in the corresponding spaces provided between adjacent sectorial stepwise portions 33 a of the circular edge portion 33A. The inside diameter of the clutch member 33B (i.e., the diameter of a circular opening thereof) is equal to the diameter of the insertion hole 31 b (see FIG. 6F) of the dome portion 32. As shown in FIG. 6C, a side surface 33 f (hereinafter referred to as �stopper surface 33 f�) of the groove 33 d is oblique to the axis P (see FIG. 6A) of a shaft part 42 of the corotation restricting member 40.
The first engageable part 41, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, includes a base portion 41 d having the same diameter as the inside diameter of the clutch member 33B (the diameter of the circular opening thereof), and a head portion 41 c formed at an end surface of the base portion 41 d. On the periphery of the base portion 41 d are provided protrusions (or convex portions) 41 a protruding therefrom. The protrusions 41 a are provided in four places corresponding to the locations of the grooves 33 d of the clutch member 33B, so as to become fitted into the groove 33 d. As shown in FIG. 6A, a side surface 41 b (hereinafter referred to as �contact surface 41 b�) of the protrusion 41 a is oblique to the axis P of the shaft part 42, and thus fitting the protrusions 41 a into the grooves 33 d of the clutch member 33B brings the contact surfaces 41 b into contact with the stopper surfaces 33 f (see FIG. 6C) of the groove 33 d. The shaft part 42 includes a body portion 42 a having the same diameter as the inside diameter of the insertion hole 21 a (see FIG. 4) of the base body 20A, and a reduced diameter portion 42 b disposed between the body portion 42 a and the base portion 41 d of the first engageable part 41, and at a distal end of the body portion 42 a is provided a pin hole 42 c extending in a direction perpendicular to the axis P.
The flat portion 71 is provided with an insertion hole 71 c substantially in the middle section thereof, and in four places around the insertion hole 71 c are projections 71 d formed by partially cutting the flat portion 71 and bending each portion so as to raise it straight up toward a display D side. A surface 71 a (hereinafter referred to as �base-side sliding surface 71 a�) of the flat portion 71 facing toward the base 80 side and a surface 71 b (hereinafter referred to as �display-side surface 71 b�) thereof facing toward the display side are both formed flat.
The base 80 includes a tabular receiving portion 81, side wall portions 82 perpendicularly extending from each side edge of the receiving portion 81, a bottom wall portion 83 perpendicularly extending from a bottom edge of the receiving portion 81, and a pair of mid-wall portions 84 provided in places at predetermined intervals substantially at the center of the receiving portion 81 so as to perpendicularly protrude therefrom. A surface 81 a (hereinafter referred to as �receiving surface 81 a�) of the receiving portion 81 facing toward the display D side is formed flat. The receiving portion 81 is provided with an insertion hole 81 b. The mid-wall portions 84 are opposed to each other and disposed in such positions as to sandwich the insertion hole 81 b. In each of the mid-wall portions 84, a U-shaped notch 84 a is provided from a distal end of the mid-wall portion 23 and extending toward the receiving portion 81 in a direction parallel to an axis P of the corotation restricting member 40. Into an insertion hole 82 a provided in each side wall portion 82 is fitted a shaft member (not shown) for tilting the orientation adjustment apparatus H′.
The support cap 90 includes a body portion 91 having each end (perimeter) formed circular, wall portions 92 protruding from the periphery of the body portion 91, and a second engageable part 93 (see FIG. 11B) provided at the display D side of the body portion 91. In middle of the circular end faces (flat faces) of the body portion 91 are provided an insertion hole 91 b, and the paired wall portions 92 are aligned with one plane containing the insertion hole 91 b so that the wall portions 92 sandwich the insertion hole 91 b. An end face 91 a (hereinafter referred to as �pressing surface 91 a�) of the body portion 91 facing toward the base 80 side is formed flat. It is to be understood that the second engageable part 93 has substantially the same construction as the second engageable part 33 of the support cap 30 according to the first embodiment, and thus a further detailed description will be omitted herein.
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ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNOR S CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:NEC VIEWTECHNOLOGY, LTD.;REEL/FRAME:030463/0637Effective date: 20070401May 16, 2013ASAssignmentOwner name: NEC DISPLAY SOLUTIONS, LTD., JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MURAKAMI CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:030428/0790Effective date: 20130507May 8, 2013FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Apr 12, 2013ASAssignmentOwner name: NEC DISPLAY SOLUTIONS, LTD., JAPANEffective date: 20070401Free format text: CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE ASSIGNOR S NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 030114 FRAME 0007. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNOR S CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:NEC VIEWTECHNOLOGY, LTD.;REEL/FRAME:030207/0249Apr 2, 2013ASAssignmentOwner name: NEC VIEWTECHNOLOGY, LTD., JAPANFree format text: CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE CONVEYING PARTY S NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 030091 FRAME 0688. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE MERGER;ASSIGNOR:NEC-MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC VISUAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:030147/0248Effective date: 20070402Mar 29, 2013ASAssignmentEffective date: 20070401Free format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:NEC VIEWTECHNOLOGY, LTD;REEL/FRAME:030114/0007Owner name: NEC DISPLAY SOLUTIONS, LTD., JAPANMar 26, 2013ASAssignmentFree format text: MERGER;ASSIGNOR:NEC-MITSUBISHI ELECTRICAL VISUAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:030091/0688Owner name: NEC VIEWTECHNOLOGY, LTD., JAPANEffective date: 20070402Apr 22, 2009FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Aug 8, 2005ASAssignmentOwner name: MURAKAMI CORPORATION, JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ISHIZAKI, TAKASHI;HIRASAWA, KENICHI;REEL/FRAME:016864/0224;SIGNING DATES FROM 20040107 TO 20040109Owner name: NEC-MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC VISUAL SYSTEMS CORPORATIONRotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google