U.S. patent application number 10/437182 was filed with the patent office on 2004-11-18 for one-hand-holding aid for tablet personal computer.
This patent application is currently assigned to Adomax Technology Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Kao, Tsung-Ching.
Application Number | 20040226973 10/437182 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33417324 |
Filed Date | 2004-11-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040226973 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kao, Tsung-Ching |
November 18, 2004 |
One-hand-holding aid for tablet personal computer
Abstract
A one-hand-holding aid for tablet personal computer (PC) mainly
includes a handhold member pivotally connected at a proximal end to
a back of a tablet PC. The handhold member is provided at the
proximal end with a tightness-adjustable fastening band for
conveniently binding around a user's wrist or elbow. The user may
stably and safely hold the tablet PC with only one hand by gripping
at the handhold member and binding the fastening band around the
wrist or elbow, and turn the tablet PC to any desired direction and
angle during operation without the risk of dropping the tablet PC.
Even with the handhold member, the tablet PC may still be used on a
desktop and connected to a keyboard as desired.
Inventors: |
Kao, Tsung-Ching; (Hsin Tien
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TROXELL LAW OFFICE PLLC
SUITE 1404
5205 LEESBURG PIKE
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22041
US
|
Assignee: |
Adomax Technology Co., Ltd.
|
Family ID: |
33417324 |
Appl. No.: |
10/437182 |
Filed: |
May 14, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
224/218 ;
224/219; 224/222 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/163 20130101;
F16M 11/041 20130101; F16M 11/10 20130101; F16M 13/04 20130101;
G06F 1/1626 20130101; F16M 13/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
224/218 ;
224/219; 224/222 |
International
Class: |
A45C 001/00; A45F
003/14; A45C 013/30 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A one-hand-holding aid for tablet PC, comprising a handhold
member pivotally connected at a proximal end to a back of a tablet
PC via a pivot pin, so that said handhold member may be freely
turned to any angle relative to said tablet PC; said handhold
member being provided at a distal end with a raised portion for a
user to grip thereat, and at the proximal end with a fastening band
for conveniently binding around a user's one arm near a wrist or an
elbow thereof; whereby the user may easily bind said fastening band
around the wrist or elbow of one hand while gripping at said raised
portion to stably hold said tablet PC with only one hand and
conveniently adjust said tablet PC to any desired direction or
angle.
2. The one-hand-holding aid for tablet PC as claimed in claim 1,
further comprising a carrier member provided between the back of
said tablet PC and said handhold member; said carrier member
including a plate having a predetermined width and provided with
hooks, such that said carrier member is adapted to closely bear
against the back of said tablet PC and firmly connect thereto
through engagement of said hooks with retaining slots
correspondingly provided on a case of said tablet PC; and said
carrier member being connected to said handhold member via a pivot
screw, such that said pivot screw forms said pivot pin at the
proximal end of said handhold member and allows said handhold
member to pivotally turn relative to said carrier member.
3. The one-hand-holding aid for tablet PC as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said fastening band is provided with means for conveniently
adjusting an overall length of said fastening band, such that said
fastening band may be bound around the user's wrist or elbow in an
optimal tightness.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a one-hand-holding aid for
tablet personal computer (PC), and more particularly to a holding
aid pivotally connected to a rear side of a tablet PC and including
a fastening band for binding around a user's wrist, so that the
user may stably hold the tablet PC with only one hand while freely
turns the tablet PC to any desired direction and angle for best
operation thereof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Please refer to FIG. 1 in which a tablet PC 1 is shown. The
tablet PC has been quickly developed and become as popular as the
desktop and the laptop computer. There are a lot of different
brands and specifications for the tablet PC. Unlike the laptop or
other portable computer, the tablet PC 1 includes only a
rectangular tablet body without any keyboard. The user operates the
tablet PC 1 by making selection directly on a front display
thereof. Alternatively, the tablet PC 1 may be laid on a desktop
for use. In the latter case, the tablet PC 1 is set in a frame on
the desktop to connect to a keyboard, and is used just like a
general desktop computer. However, most users would use one hand 2
to support the tablet PC 1 at a rear side thereof, as shown in FIG.
1, and use the other hand to make selection and other operations on
the front display or to turn the tablet PC 1 to a different
direction for showing data on the display to other people. That is,
one of the features of the tablet PC 1 is it may be held with one
hand 2. However, due to its area and weight, the tablet PC 1 could
not always be easily and stably held with only one hand 2,
particularly when the tablet PC 1 is to be held at a certain angle.
It is also uneasy to turn the tablet PC 1 supported on one hand 2
to different direction or angle for showing the display thereof to
some other people. Any negligence in handling the tablet PC 1 would
dangerously drop and accordingly damage it. This is a disadvantage
in using the tablet PC 1.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a
one-hand-holding aid for tablet PC to overcome the above-mentioned
disadvantage in using the tablet PC. To achieve the above and other
objects, the present invention mainly includes a handhold member
pivotally connected at a proximal end to a back of a tablet PC. The
handhold member is provided at the proximal end with a
tightness-adjustable fastening band for conveniently binding around
a user's wrist or elbow. The user may stably and safely hold the
tablet PC with only one hand by gripping at the handhold member and
binding the fastening band around the wrist or elbow. In this
manner, the tablet PC held by the user with only one hand may be
turned to any desired direction and angle during operation without
the risk of dropping.
[0004] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
one-hand-holding aid for tablet PC, so that the tablet PC is
pivotally connected at a back to a handhold member, and may still
be used on a desktop and connected to a keyboard as desired without
being affected by the handhold member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] The structure and the technical means adopted by the present
invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best
understood by referring to the following detailed description of
the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings,
wherein
[0006] FIG. 1 shows a typical manner of holding a tablet PC with
one hand while operating it;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a one-hand-holding aid
for tablet PC according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0008] FIG. 3 shows the manner of using the holding aid of the
present invention to hold a tablet PC with only one hand;
[0009] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the present
invention; and
[0010] FIG. 5 also shows the use of the present invention to hold a
tablet PC with only one hand.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0011] Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 3. The one-hand-holding aid for
tablet PC according to the present invention mainly includes a
handhold member 3 pivotally connected at a proximal end to a back
11 of the tablet PC 1 via a pivot pin 31, so that the handhold
member 3 may be freely turned to any angle relative to the tablet
PC 1. The handhold member 3 is provided at a distal end with a
raised portion 32 to serve as a handle for a user's palm 22 to grip
at. A fastening band 4 is provided at the proximal end of the
handhold member 3 for conveniently binding around the user's one
arm near a wrist 21 or an elbow thereof. To use the
one-hand-holding aid of the present invention, the user may easily
bind the wrist 21 of one hand 2 to the handhold member 3 with the
fastening band 4. This ensures the tablet PC 1 to be angularly
inclined without easily dropping due to any impact. The user may
then grip at the raised portion 32 with the palm 22 while using
fingers to press against the back 11 of the tablet PC 1, so that
the tablet PC 1 may be stably held in a desired direction for
operation conveniently. With the pivotal pin 31 and the fastening
band 4, the user is allowed to turn the tablet PC 1 on one hand 2
by any angle to a desired direction, as shown by the arrow A in
FIG. 5, or to a desired inclination, as shown by the arrow B in
FIG. 5, for showing data on the front display of the tablet PC 1 to
other people around the user. The one-hand-holding aid of the
present invention allows the tablet PC 1 to be operated in the most
convenient, simplest, and safest manner.
[0012] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the present
invention. Since there are differences in casing designs among
tablet PC's 1 of different brands, a carrier member 5 matching with
the casing design of the tablet PC 1 is designed for attaching to
the back 11 of the tablet PC 1. For example, the tablet PC 1 may be
provided on one edge 12 of its casing with retaining slots 13, and
the carrier member 5 may be correspondingly provided at
predetermined positions with hooks 51 for engaging with the
retaining slots 13, so that a plate 52 of the carrier member 5
having a predetermined width closely bears against the back 11 of
the tablet PC 1 to firmly connect the carrier member 5 to the
tablet PC 1. A pivot screw 6 is extended through the carrier member
5 and the handhold member 3 to form the pivot pin 31 of the
handhold member 3, so that the handhold member 3 could be pivotally
turned relative to the plate 52. Since the pivot pin 31 is formed
from the pivot screw 6, the handhold member 3 may be connected to
the carrier member 5 in different tightness through adjustment of
the pivot screw 6.
[0013] When the tightness between the handhold member 3 and the
carrier member 5 has been properly adjusted, the tablet PC 1 may be
pivotally turned relative to the handhold member 3 without becoming
loosely and freely rotatable. That is, the pivot screw 6 allows the
tablet PC 1 to stop at any desired position relative to the
handhold member 3, just like a display of a laptop computer that
could be pivotally turned and stopped at any desired angular
position relative to the keyboard. Since the pivot screw 6 is a
known art, it is not discussed in details herein.
[0014] As can be seen from FIG. 4, the handhold member 3 may be
formed from an upper and a lower injection-molded plastic part, so
that the handhold member 3 defines a hollow space therein to
facilitate assembling of the pivot screw 6 and the fastening band 4
to the handhold member 3. The raised portion 32 may be an
integrally molded portion of the handhold member 3 to reduce an
overall manufacturing cost of the present invention. The handhold
member 3 and the raised portion 32 may have configurations,
including an angle contained between the raised portion 32 and the
pivot pin 31, an overall height of the raised portion 32, etc.,
that are designed according to the body engineering, so that the
handhold member 3 is suitable for all general users. The fastening
band 4 provided at the proximal end of the handhold member 3 may be
easily adjustably bound around the user's wrist or elbow using, for
example, a buckle adapted to adjust the length of the band 4 or a
magic tape, such as Velcro tape, so that the user's hand 2 bound by
the fastening band 4 would not easily separate therefrom.
[0015] The carrier member 5 is not necessarily connected to the
tablet PC 1 through engagement of the hooks 51 with the retaining
slots 13. Different connection manners may be designed depending on
the configurations of the casing of the tablet PC 1 and/or the edge
12. It is also possible to omit the carrier member 5 and to provide
a recess on the back 11 of the tablet PC 1 for receiving the pivot
screw 6 therein. When the one-hand-holding aid of the present
invention is not connected to the tablet PC 1, the existence of the
recess would not have any influence on the use of the tablet PC 1.
Whenever it is desired, the user may directly mount the pivot screw
6 to the recess and connect the handhold member 3 to the pivot
screw 6 to provide the one-hand-holding aid on the tablet PC 1.
That is, the handhold member 3 is an optional item that may be
easily mounted to the tablet PC 1 completely depending on the
user's actual need.
[0016] Since the handhold member 3 is pivotally turnable relative
to the tablet PC 1, and the retaining slots 13 are provided on the
edge 12 at positions that would not interfere with any socket or
jack that are also provided on the edge 12 for connection of a
keyboard thereto, the tablet PC 1 may be connected to and used with
a keyboard without being affected by the handhold member 3 at all.
That is, it is no need to dismount the handhold member 3 from the
tablet PC 1 when the tablet PC 1 is to be used as a desktop
computer.
[0017] The following are some advantages of the one-hand-holding
aid of the present invention:
[0018] 1. It has simple structure and may be provided as an
optional item of the tablet PC to effectively ensure the use of the
tablet PC in a convenient and safe manner.
[0019] 2. The fastening band 4 may be flexibly adjusted and the
handhold member 3 may be pivotally turned to meet the user's hand
size and personal preference in operating the tablet PC 1. That is,
the fastening band 4 and the handhold member 3 are suitable for
most users and would not have any influence on the designed
functions of the tablet PC 1.
[0020] 3. The one-hand-holding aid has simple structure and may be
mounted on all tablet PC's 1 of different brands, and is therefore
suitable for mass-production to reduce the manufacturing cost
thereof.
[0021] The present invention has been described with a preferred
embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and
modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out
without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention as
defined by the appended claims.
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