Support stand for a tablet PC

Abstract

The present invention relates to a support stand for lifting a tablet PC at a predetermined angle and rendering the tablet PC easy to pack. The support stand includes: a base, a back support and a brace. The support stand is characterized by: at least one of the base, the back support and the brace being made of an elastic material and when pressing downward the back support, at least one of the base, the back support and the brace deforms so that a elastic critical point of the support stand is reached. A recovery force resulted from further pressing downward the back support urges the support stand into a closed status.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a support stand and, more particularly, to a support stand for a tablet PC.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Due to the high growth of the computer market, tablet PCs with their portability, touch-screen control functionality and digital ink capabilities have become increasingly popular.

[0005] In general, a user holds the tablet PC during use, but when the user is sitting down, since the tablet PC does not provide any element for support, the user has no choice but to place the tablet PC on a table, which limits the visibility range for the user.

[0006] As a consequence, some companies have designed a support structure for the tablet PC, which has a base, a support frame and a supporting arm. These three elements pivot with respect to each other, and are used to hold the tablet PC on the support frame at a predetermined angle. However, this support structure has a disadvantage of not being able to be closed at a fixed position when not in use, which is very inconvenient for carrying or storage.

[0007] Therefore, it is desirable to provide a support stand for a display to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] A main objective of the present invention is to provide a support stand for a display, which can be closed at a fixed position for transportation.

[0009] In order to achieve the above-mention objective, the support stand for a tablet PC comprises: a base comprising two side frames, and a back frame, the two side frames respectively having a front pivot plate and a rear conjoining plate, each of the front pivot plates having a pivot hole, each of the rear conjoining plates having a stowage hole, and the pivot hole and the stowage hole being separated by a third length L3; a back support comprising two upright arms and a lateral arm, the two upright arms respectively including a first end and a second end, the second ends respectively being pivoted with the pivot holes of the two side frames, the lateral arm being connected to both first ends of the two upright arms; and a brace comprising a rotating shaft, at least two supporting ends and two adjusting ends, the rotating shaft being placed between the at least two supporting ends and the two adjusting ends; the rotating shaft being also correspondingly pivoted to the middle portion of the two upright arms of the back support; wherein the rotating shaft is spaced from the second end of the back support by a first length L1, the two adjusting ends being capable of respectively inserting into the two stowage holes of the base, and the rotating shaft is separated from the adjusting ends by a second length L2; wherein the sum of the first length L1 and the second length L2 is larger than the third length L3; wherein the support stand is characterized by: at least one of the base, the back support and the brace being made of flexible material, and when the back support is pressed down, at least one of the base, the back support and the brace is elastically deformed so that the sum of the first length L1 and the second length L2 equals to the third length L3; and as the back support is further pressed, a recovery force resulted from the elastic deformation forces the lateral arm to clip on the back frame of base.

[0010] Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of standing status of a support stand for a tablet PC according to the present invention.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a side view of the present invention.

[0013] FIG. 3 is a side view of closed status of the support stand for a tablet PC according to the present invention.

[0014] FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of closed status of the support stand for a tablet PC according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0015] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a support stand for a tablet PC according to the present invention in a standing mode. The support stand comprises a base 1, a back support 2, and a brace 3. The base 1 is a rectangular frame, comprising a front frame 141, two side frames 142, 143, and a back frame 144; the side frames 142, 143 respectively have a front pivot plate 121, 122 and a rear conjoining plate 131, 132. The rear conjoining plates 131, 132 each have a plurality of adjusting holes 133 and a stowage hole 134. The back support 2 is U-shaped, and comprises two upright arms 21, 22 and a lateral arm 23. The two upright arms 21, 22 respectively include a first end and a second end, the second ends respectively being pivoted to the pivot holes of the front pivot plate 121, 122, and the lateral arm 23 is bent toward to the back frame 144 of the base 1 and connects to both first ends of the two upright arms 21, 22. The two upright arms 21, 22 further comprise a rotating joint 24, 25. The brace 3 comprises a rotating shaft 31 and two supporting frames 32, 33. The rotating shaft 31 is joined to the two rotating joints 24, 25 of the two upright arms 21, 22, so that the brace 3 can rotate by the rotating shaft 31. The supporting frames 32, 33 respectively have two supporting ends 321, 331 and two adjusting ends 322, 332. The two supporting ends 321, 331 extend through the back support and are used for supporting a tablet PC 4 (shown by the dashed line in FIG. 4). The two adjusting ends 322, 332 are used for joining with different adjusting holes 133 to provide different angles for the back support 2 and the brace 3.

[0016] Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a side view of the present invention. In the drawing, the adjusting ends 322, 332 of the brace 3 are respectively inserted into the second adjusting holes 133 to lift up the back support 2 and the brace 3, and the supporting ends 321, 331 of the brace 3 are used for supporting the tablet PC 4. When closing the support stand, the user simply moves the adjusting ends 322, 332 from the adjusting holes 133 to the stowage holes 134.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a side view of closed condition of the support stand for a display according to the present invention. A characteristic of the present invention is that, taking a pivot point 123 of the front pivot plate 121 as a base point, for the back support 2, the distance between the pivot point 123 and the rotating joint 24 is L1; for the base 1, the distance between the pivot point 123 and the stowage hole 134 is L3; for the brace 3, the distance between the rotating joint 24 and the adjusting end 322 is L2. In order to close the support stand, the adjusting ends 322, 332 are inserted into the stowage holes 134, as shown in FIG. 3. The combined length (L1+L2) is a little larger than L3. Consequently, when the user presses the back support 2, since the base 1, the back support 2 and the brace 3 are all made of materials that are slightly elastic (such as stainless steel), the brace 3 compresses along L2 to a length of L2', so that L1+L2'=L3, which is a critical point (a maximum of the elastic potential). As the user presses further, the elastic force of the material forces the back support 2 down further until the lateral arm 23 fastens with the back frame 144 of the base 1, as shown in FIG. 4.

[0018] Accordingly, the present invention utilizes a length relationship between different elements, and the elasticity provided by the material to provide a more stable closed condition for the support stand, which is an obvious improvement.

[0019] Additionally, the base 1, the back support 2 and the brace 3 are preferably made of a rigid but slightly elastic material, such as stainless steel or the like.

[0020] Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A support stand for a tablet PC comprising: a base comprising two side frames, and a back frame, the two side frames respectively having a front pivot plate and a rear conjoining plate, each of the front pivot plate having a pivot hole, each of the rear conjoining plate having a stowage hole, and the pivot hole and the stowage hole are separated by a third length L3; a back support comprising two upright arms and a lateral arm, the two upright arms respectively including a first end and a second end, the second ends respectively being pivoted with the pivot holes of the two side frames, the lateral arm being connected to both first ends of the two upright arms; and a brace comprising a rotating shaft, at least two supporting ends and two adjusting ends, the rotating shaft being placed between the at least two supporting ends and the two adjusting ends; the rotating shaft being also correspondingly pivoted to the middle portion of the two upright arms of the back support; wherein the rotating shaft is spaced from the second end of the back support by a first length L1, the two adjusting ends being capable of respectively inserting into the two stowage holes of the base, and the rotating shaft is separated from the adjusting ends by a second length L2; wherein the sum of the first length L1 and the second length L2 is larger than the third length L3; wherein the support stand is characterized by: at least one of the base, the back support and the brace being made of flexible material, and when the back support is pressed down, at least one of the base, the back support and the brace is elastically deformed so that the sum of the first length L1 and the second length L2 equals to the third length L3; and as the back support is further pressed, a recovery force resulted from the elastic deformation forces the lateral arm to clip on the back frame of base.

2. The support stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lateral arm of the back support is bent toward the back frame of the base to form a clipping portion so as to clip on the back frame of base.

3. The support stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base, the back support and the brace are all made of a flexible material.

4. The support stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conjoining plate further comprises a plurality of adjusting holes adapted for adjusting a vertical height of the support stand.