Abstract:
Provided is an adhesive supporter configured to temporarily support a car navigation, a cellular phone, or the like, and in particular, to an adhesive supporter capable of more reliably and stably suctioning and holding a car navigation, a cellular phone, or the like by increasing a vacuum force between an attachment surface thereof and a pad of the adhesive supporter.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0047707, filed on May 20, 2011, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the present invention of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The following disclosure relates to an adhesive supporter configured to temporarily support a car navigation, a cellular phone, or the like, and in particular, to an adhesive supporter capable of more reliably and stably suctioning and holding a car navigation, a cellular phone, or the like by increasing a vacuum force between an attachment surface thereof and a pad of the adhesive supporter. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In recent years, a supporter has been widely used by being fixed to a front window, a dashboard, or the like in the interior of a car to support a cellular phone, a navigation, a monitor, or the like (hereinafter, generally referred to as a ‘mobile device’) thereon. 
         [0004]    There is disclosed a technique for suctioning and supporting the mobile device using magnetic attraction. However, in such a technique, the mobile device is attached using a permanent magnet. Therefore, this magnetic supporter may not be practically used on the ground that the mobile device is often turned off when an electronic device such as the mobile device is near the magnet. 
         [0005]    In addition to the magnetic supporter, there is known a technical structure in which a bracket grips the mobile device using a spring force exerted laterally. However, even this structure has a problem in that various buttons disposed at the left and right surfaces of the mobile device are often pushed by mistake. 
         [0006]    In addition, a structure may be conceived in which an auxiliary member is attached to the back surface of the mobile device and the mobile device is attached to the supporter. However, there are problems in that the mobile device may be unclean or may not be commonly used and the auxiliary member may be attached to each of all mobile devices or other products. 
         [0007]    Furthermore, a structure shown in  FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b  is considered in which the mobile device is attached or detached using an adhesive plate known as a flat adhesive plate.  FIG. 1   a  illustrates a state before the mobile device is attached to the supporter, and  FIG. 1   b  illustrates a state where the mobile device is attached to the supporter. In the supporter with such a structure, a central member (not shown) integrally formed with the center of an adhesive plate  13  connects the adhesive plate  13  and a lever  11  to each other. When the lever disposed perpendicularly is pushed to be horizontal, the center of the adhesive plat  13  connected to the lever  11  is pulled toward the inside of a housing  12 , so that the adhesive plate  13  is formed in an upward recess shape as depicted by the dashed line of  FIG. 1   b . Accordingly, the internal space between the adhesive plate  13  and the attachment surface expands, so that the air pressure between the adhesive plate  13  and the attachment surface becomes lower than the atmospheric pressure and hence the mobile device is suctioned and supported by the supporter. 
         [0008]    However, this flat adhesive plate supporter may not be conveniently used since the mobile device is made contact the supporter by one hand and the lever is pressed by the other hand. Further, since the suction force is exerted due to a difference between the internal pressure and the atmosphere pressure caused by the deformation with the upward recess shape as shown in  FIG. 1   b , there is a concern that the pad is deformed when the pad is used for a long time. When the pad is deformed once, an internal space is already present between the adhesive plate  13  and the attachment surface before the lever is operated. For this reason, even when the internal space is expanded through the operation of the lever, sufficient adhesiveness may not be provided. Moreover, when the ambient temperature increases due to hot weather or the like, the pressure of the air of the internal space increases to become equivalent to the atmospheric pressure. As a result, the supporter loses the adhesiveness thereof and hence the mobile device is often dropped from the attachment surface. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    An embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing an adhesive supporter capable of supporting a cellular phone or the like using a vacuum force between a pad of the adhesive supporter and an attachment surface of a mobile device such as a car navigation or a cellular phone to be supported thereon, and more reliably and stably suctioning and holding the mobile device such as the cellular phone by maintaining a pressure between the pad of the adhesive supporter and the attachment surface in a vacuum state without operating an additional mechanism such as a lever. 
         [0010]    Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing an adhesive supporter with a structure capable of suctioning and supporting a mobile device without plastic deformation of a pad of the adhesive supporter. 
         [0011]    Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing an adhesive supporter capable of effectively suctioning and supporting a mobile device even when the attachment surface thereof is rough or not planar. 
         [0012]    In one general aspect, there is an adhesive supporter for attaching a mobile device including a cellular phone, a PDA, and a navigation thereto, including: a pad suctioned to an attachment surface of the mobile device; a central member uprightly fixed to the top surface of the pad; a housing having a hole allowing the central member to pass therethrough and disposed on the top surface of the pad; a planar stopper member bonded to the central member; a cylindrical ball receiving portion formed on the back surface of the stopper member such that a knurling is formed on the outside thereof and the ball receiving portion is segmented by notched grooves; and an elastic member providing an elastic force between the outer peripheral surface of the housing and the stopper member, wherein the central member moves the center of the pad upward using the elastic force of the elastic member to maintain the pad in a recess shape, and the attachment surface is pushed against the back surface of the pad to be attached thereto, so that a space between the attachment surface and the back surface of the pad becomes a vacuum state and the mobile device is suctioned and held by the adhesive supporter. 
         [0013]    In another general aspect, the ball receiving portion may rotatably receive a round ball formed at one end of a fixed body fixed to a car or the like. 
         [0014]    In another general aspect, industrial gel with adhesiveness may be heat-fixed to the back surface of the pad. Furthermore, the top surface of the pad may be etched. 
         [0015]    In another general aspect, the adhesive supporter may further include an attaching and detaching mechanism formed in one surface of the pad to pull one side of the pad. 
         [0016]    In another general aspect, the adhesive supporter may further include a cover member integrally extending from the stopper member to cover the housing, and the housing and the cover member may be provided with a groove or a hole allowing the attaching and detaching mechanism to pass therethrough. 
         [0017]    In another general aspect, the elastic member may be a coil spring surrounding the central member between the housing and the stopper member. 
         [0018]    In another general aspect, a portion of the housing corresponding to the center of the pad may be formed in a recess shape, a portion corresponding to the outer periphery of the pad may be formed in a flat shape to contact the outer periphery, and the portion contacting the outer periphery of the pad may be provided with a circular protrusion. 
         [0019]    The above and other objects and benefits will become more apparent by the following description for describing the exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of certain exemplary embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0021]      FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b  are diagrams illustrating a shape before and after a conventional adhesive plate supporter is operated, 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an adhesive supporter according to one embodiment of the present invention, 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is an entire exploded perspective view illustrating the adhesive supporter according to the present invention, 
           [0024]      FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  are diagrams illustrating the operation of the adhesive supporter according to the present invention, 
           [0025]      FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  are diagrams illustrating an angle adjusting function of the adhesive supporter according to the present invention, and 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the adhesive supporter according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0027]    The advantages, features and aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, which is set forth hereinafter. The present invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this present invention will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an adhesive supporter according to one embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 3  is an entire exploded perspective view illustrating the adhesive supporter according to the present invention. 
         [0029]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the adhesive supporter according to the present invention includes a pad  10 , a central member  25 , a housing  20 , a stopper member  30 , a ball receiving portion  40 , and a fixed body  50  of which one end is provided with a round ball and which is fixed to a car or the like. 
         [0030]    The pad  10  includes a back surface suctioned to an attachment surface of a mobile device and a top surface connected to the central member  25 . The top surface of the pad  10  may be etched to prevent the portion contacting the housing  20  from sticking to the housing  20  when they are used for a long time. When such etching is performed, the pad may be prevented from sticking to the housing  20  when they are used for a long time, and the mobile device may be easily attached or detached. 
         [0031]    The central member  25  is uprightly fixed to the center of the top surface of the pad  10 , and maintains the shape of the pad  10  in a recess shape by moving the center of the pad  10  upward due to an action of an elastic member  35  between the housing  20  and the stopper member  30 . 
         [0032]    The housing  20  has a round semi-spherical shape, and has a hole provided at the center thereof so that the central member  25  passes therethrough. In the embodiment, the housing  20  is depicted in a semispherical shape, but may have a shape in which the portion corresponding to the center of the pad  10  is formed in a recess shape to form a space where the center of the pad  10  has a recess shape, and the portion corresponding to the outer periphery of the pad  10  is formed in a flat shape to contact the pad  10 . When the housing  20  is formed to contact the pad  10  along the outer periphery of the pad  10 , a plurality of circular protrusions may be formed in the portion of the housing contacting the pad to more efficiently maintain a vacuum state by concentrating a pressure. 
         [0033]    The central member  25  is bonded to the stopper member  30  through the hole formed in the housing  20 . The elastic member  35  is interposed between the stopper member  30  and the housing  20 . In the embodiment, the elastic member  35  is exemplified as a coil spring, but it is apparent by the person skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited thereto. 
         [0034]    A cylindrical ball receiving portion  40  protrudes from the back surface of the stopper member  30  such that a knurling  48  is formed on the outside of the ball receiving portion and the ball receiving portion is segmented by notched grooves  49 . One end of the fixed body  50  fixed to a car or the like is provided with a round ball  55  that is received in the ball receiving portion  40 . The round ball  55  is received in the ball receiving portion  40 , and the outer diameter portion of the ball receiving portion  40  is fastened and fixed by a fastening ring  45 , so that the adhesive supporter according to the present invention is strongly fixed to the car. Since the round ball  55  is rotatably received inside the ball receiving portion  40 , the angle of the adhesive supporter according to the present invention may be optionally adjusted by a user as shown in  FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b.    
         [0035]    The fixed body  50  may be used by being permanently attached to one surface of the car using a double-sided adhesive tape, a screw, or the like, or may be used by being optionally attached thereto using an adhesive plate generally known as a flat adhesive plate. Since the method of fixing the fixed body to the car or the like is out of the scope of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. 
         [0036]    The operation of making the mobile device suctioned and supported by the adhesive supporter according to the present invention will be specifically described by referring to  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b.    
         [0037]    In the adhesive supporter according to the present invention, as shown in  FIG. 4   a , the pad  10  is maintained in a recess shape in a manner such that the central member  25  bonded to the stopper member  30  using the elastic force of the elastic member  35  between the housing  20  and the stopper member  30  pulls the center of the pad  10  connected to the central member  25 . 
         [0038]    As shown in  FIG. 4   b , when the mobile device is adhered to the pad  10  to suction and support the mobile device, the internal air between the pad  10  and the attachment surface of the mobile device leaks, so that the pad  10  is suctioned to the attachment surface in a perfect vacuum state. Likewise, since the adhesive supporter according to the present invention may suction and hold the mobile device just by pushing the mobile device against the pad of the adhesive supporter without operating any mechanism such as a lever, the adhesive supporter may be simply used. Furthermore, since the pad  10  is suctioned to the attachment surface of the mobile device in a flat shape without plastic deformation as shown in  FIG. 4   b , there is an effect that the suction force may be maintained even after long-term use. 
         [0039]    Furthermore, soft industrial gel with adhesiveness may be heat-fixed to the back surface of the pad  10 . The industrial gel is elastomer that is formed by putting a hardening agent such as polyol and a plasticizer such as ether and ester into isocyanate or the like. The hardness of the industrial gel becomes different from that of the pad  10  depending on the content of plasticizer, and the adhesiveness changes depending on the hardness. The close contact state between the attachment surface and the pad  10  may be more strongly maintained by the adhesiveness. Furthermore, even when the attachment surface of the mobile device is rough, since the cavities formed on the rough surface is closely and reliably filled with the soft gel, the pad may be effectively adhered to the attachment surface in a close contact state. 
         [0040]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the adhesive supporter according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0041]    The adhesive supporter according to the embodiment is substantially the same as the embodiment of  FIG. 3  except that an attaching and detaching mechanism  15  is formed on the top surface of the outer periphery of the pad to easily attach or detach the mobile device to or from the adhesive supporter and a cover member  38  integrally extends from the stopper member  30  to cover the housing  20 . 
         [0042]    When the attaching and detaching mechanism  15  is pulled, air enters between the pad  10  and the attachment surface of the mobile device, so that the vacuum state is canceled. In this state, the mobile device may be easily attached or detached. The housing  20  and the cover member  38  are provided with a groove or a hole through which the attaching and detaching mechanism passes. 
         [0043]    Since the cover member  38  is formed to cover the housing  20 , the central member  25 , and the elastic member  35 , the adhesive supporter according to the present invention has a neat appearance. 
         [0044]    The adhesive supporter according to the present invention may support the cellular phone or the like using a vacuum force between the pad of the adhesive supporter and the attachment surface of the mobile device such as the car navigation or the cellular phone to be supported thereon. Further, the adhesive supporter may more reliably and stably suction and hold the mobile device such as the cellular phone by maintaining a pressure between the pad of the adhesive supporter and the attachment surface in a vacuum state without operating an additional mechanism such as a lever. 
         [0045]    Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the pad of the adhesive supporter is used to suction and support the mobile device in the state where the pad does not have plastic deformation, the suction force may be maintained even after long-term use. And, since the industrial gel with adhesiveness is heat-fixed to the back surface of the pad, even the mobile device having a rough attachment surface may be effectively suctioned and supported by the adhesive supporter. 
         [0046]    While the present invention has been described with respect to the specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims.