U.S. patent application number 11/296415 was filed with the patent office on 2006-08-10 for stepless height adjusting apparatus.
Invention is credited to Huan-Tsung Lin.
Application Number | 20060174457 11/296415 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36778443 |
Filed Date | 2006-08-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060174457 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin; Huan-Tsung |
August 10, 2006 |
Stepless height adjusting apparatus
Abstract
A stepless height adjusting apparatus includes a slider, a slide
way, and an elastic supporting device. The slider is an axial
symmetry bar. The axial symmetry bar has a larger cross section
perpendicular to the axis thereof on the top portion and a smaller
cross section perpendicular to the axis thereof on the bottom
portion so as to form an incline on the side surface. The slider
couples to the slide way to move on the slide way. The elastic
supporting device is disposed on the top portion of the slide way
to support the slider with balance forces between the elastic
supporting device and the incline of the slider. When an external
force is pushing the slider, the slider may move along the slide
way. When the external force is removed, the slider may stop at a
determined position on the slide way by the balance force.
Inventors: |
Lin; Huan-Tsung; (Hsinchu,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LOWE HAUPTMAN BERNER, LLP
1700 DIAGONAL ROAD
SUITE 300
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22314
US
|
Family ID: |
36778443 |
Appl. No.: |
11/296415 |
Filed: |
December 8, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
24/429 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 24/2586 20150115;
A47B 91/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
024/429 |
International
Class: |
A44B 19/26 20060101
A44B019/26 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 26, 2005 |
TW |
94102375 |
Claims
1. A stepless height adjusting apparatus, comprising: a slider
having an axially symmetric bar, a cross section of the axially
symmetric bar in a top portion being greater than a cross section
of the axially symmetric bar in a bottom portion to form an incline
on a side surface of the slider, and the cross sections being
perpendicular to an axis of the slider; a slide way coupling to the
slider for the slider to move along the slide way; and an elastic
supporting device, disposed on one end of the slide way so that a
balanced force between the elastic supporting device and the
incline of the slider supports the slider; wherein the slider moves
along the slide way under an external force and, once the external
force is removed, the slider stops at a determined position due to
the balanced forces between the elastic supporting device and the
incline of the slider.
2. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the
elastic supporting device comprises: at least one fixing base
disposed on a side of the slide way and the fixing base comprising
a pivotal point and an angle adjusting groove; and at least one
supporting frame coupled to the pivotal point by one end of the
supporting frame and wiggled about the pivotal point, the
supporting frame comprising: a pushing rod disposed on one end of
the supporting frame; a spring coupled between the pushing rod and
the supporting frame to provide the pushing rod with a
predetermined elastic force for the pushing rod supporting the
slider; and a fixing device disposed on the other end of the
supporting frame and coupled to the angle adjusting groove, wherein
an angle between the elastic supporting device and the slider is
determined by the coupling position of the fixing device and the
angle adjusting groove, thereby adjusting component forces of the
pushing rod in the direction along the incline of the slider and
the horizontal direction.
3. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 2, wherein the
pushing rod comprises a roller disposed at the end of the pushing
rod for the slider and the pushing rod to slide smoothly.
4. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the
slide way comprises a sliding sleeve between the slide way and the
slider for the slider to slide smoothly.
5. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the
slider comprises a device coupling base disposed on the slider to
couple to a device thereby adjusting the height of the device by
the stepless height adjusting apparatus.
6. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the
incline is a curved surface.
7. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 1, further
comprising a base coupled to the bottom of the slide way to
increase a stability of the stepless height adjusting
apparatus.
8. A stepless height adjusting apparatus, comprising: a slider
having an axially symmetric bar, a cross section of the axially
symmetric bar in a top portion being greater than a cross section
of axially symmetric bar in a bottom portion to form an incline on
the side surface of the slider, and the cross sections being
perpendicular to an axis of the slider; a slide way coupling to the
slider to move on the slide way; and an elastic supporting device,
disposed on one end of the slide way so that a balanced force
between the elastic supporting device and the slider supports the
slider and the elastic supporting device comprising: at least one
fixing base disposed on a side of the slide way and including a
pivotal point and an angle adjusting groove; and at least one
supporting frame coupled to the pivotal point by the one end of the
supporting frame and wiggled about the pivotal point, the
supporting frame comprising: a pushing rod disposed on one end of
the supporting frame; a spring coupled between the pushing rod and
the supporting frame to provide the pushing rod with a
predetermined elastic force for the pushing rod to support the
slider; and a fixing device disposed on the other end of the
supporting frame and coupled to the angle adjusting groove, wherein
an angle between the elastic supporting device and the slider is
determined by the coupling position of the fixing device and the
angle adjusting groove, thereby adjusting the component forces of
the pushing rod in the direction along the incline of the slider
and the horizontal direction; wherein the slider moves along the
slide way under an external force, once the external force is
removed, the slider stops at a determined position due to the
balanced forces between the elastic supporting device and the
incline of the slider.
9. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 8, wherein the
pushing rod comprises a roller disposed at one end of the pushing
rod for the slider and the pushing rod to slide smoothly.
10. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 8, wherein the
slide way comprises a sliding sleeve between the slide way and the
slider for the slider to slide smoothly.
11. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 8, wherein the
slider comprises a coupling base disposed on the slider to couple
to a device, thereby adjusting the height of the device by the
stepless height adjusting apparatus.
12. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 8, wherein the
incline is a curved surface.
13. The stepless height adjusting apparatus of claim 8, further
comprising a base coupled to the bottom of the slide way to
increase a stability of the step-less height adjusting apparatus.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is based on, and claims priority
from, Taiwan Application Serial Number 94102375, filed Jan. 26,
2005, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference
herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The invention relates to a height adjusting apparatus and,
in particular, to a stepless height adjusting apparatus.
[0004] 2. Related Art
[0005] As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional height adjusting device
of a thin display apparatus is comprised of a slider 100', a slide
way 200', a coil spring 300' and a base 500'. The thin display
apparatus is installed on a coupling portion 120' of the slider
100'. A user imposes a force on the thin display apparatus to
adjust the height of the thin display apparatus. After the force is
removed, a weight of the thin display apparatus and the slider 100'
is equal to a sum of an elastic force of the coil spring 300' and a
friction between the slider 100' and a sliding sleeve 210' on the
slide way 200'. Therefore, the slider 100' can stop at any position
on the slide way 200'. The weight of the thin display apparatus is
invariant. However, the friction between the slider 100' and the
sliding sleeve 210' on the slide way 200' and the elastic force of
the coil spring 300' vary with time, adjusting frequency,
temperature, and climate. Once the coil spring 300' is subject to
elastic fatigue, or the friction between the slider 100' and the
sliding sleeve 210' changes, it is difficult to achieve a balance
of the forces to maintain the height of the thin display apparatus.
Moreover, a replacement of the coil spring 300' is time-consuming
and inconvenient.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] An object of the invention is to provide a stepless height
adjusting apparatus that uses an elastic supporting device in place
of a coil spring to achieve a stepless height adjustment.
[0007] Another object of the invention is to provide a stepless
height adjusting apparatus that can used for all kinds of devices
with different weights to adjust the height of the devices by
simply adjusting the angle and/or elastic force of an elastic
supporting device.
[0008] A further object of the invention is to provide a stepless
height adjusting apparatus that can be readily disassembled.
[0009] To achieve the above objects, the disclosed stepless height
adjusting apparatus includes a slider, a slide way, and an elastic
supporting device. The slider is an axially symmetric bar. A cross
section of the bar in a top portion is larger than a cross section
of the bar in a bottom portion so as to form an incline on a side
surface of the slider. The cross sections are perpendicular to an
axis of the slider. Therefore, the side surface inclines from the
top portion to the bottom portion of the slider. The slider couples
to the slide way to move on the slide way. The elastic supporting
device is disposed on the top portion of the slide way to support
the slider by a way of a balanced force between the elastic
supporting device and the incline of the slider. The elastic
supporting device includes two fixing bases and two supporting
frames. The fixing bases are disposed respectively on two sides of
the top portion of the slide way. Each fixing base contains a
pivotal point and an angle adjusting groove. One end of the
supporting frame is coupled to the pivotal point and the supporting
frame wiggles about the pivotal point. The supporting frame
contains a pushing rod, a spring, and a fixing device. The pushing
rod is disposed on the top portion of the supporting frame. The
spring is coupled between the pushing rod and the supporting frame.
The spring provides a predetermined elastic force to the pushing
rod to support the slider by a front end of the pushing rod. The
fixing device is disposed on the other end of the supporting frame
and coupled to the angle adjusting groove. The angle between the
elastic supporting device and the slider is determined by the
coupling position of the fixing device and the angle adjusting
groove, thereby adjusting component forces of the pushing rod in
the direction along the incline of the slider and the horizontal
direction.
[0010] When an external force is pushing the slider, the slider
moves along the slide way. When the external force is removed, the
slider stops at a determined position by a balanced force between
the elastic supporting device and the incline of the slider. Thus,
the present invention achieves the object of stepless height
adjustment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the
invention will become apparent by reference to the following
description and accompanying drawings which are given by way of
illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention,
and wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional height
adjusting apparatus;
[0013] FIG. 2 shows a side view and a top view of the disclosed
stepless height adjusting apparatus of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 3A is a schematic view showing the directions of
gravity and friction of the height adjusting apparatus of the
present invention;
[0015] FIG. 3B is a schematic view showing balance of forces of the
present invention; and
[0016] FIG. 3C is a schematic view showing a state of a device
moved by an external force.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] As shown in FIG. 2, a disclosed stepless height adjusting
apparatus includes a slider 100, a slide way 200, and an elastic
supporting device 300.
[0018] The slider 100 is an axially symmetric bar. A cross section
of the bar in a top portion is larger than a cross section of the
bar in the bottom portion so as to form an incline on a side
surface of the slider 100, and the cross sections are perpendicular
to an axis of the slider. The side surface of the slider 100 is
thus an incline surface from the top portion to the bottom portion
of the slider 100. The slider 100 contains a coupling base 120 for
coupling to a device, such as a thin display apparatus. The height
of the device is adjusted by the stepless height adjusting
apparatus.
[0019] The slide way 200 is coupled to the slider 100 for moving
thereon. The slide way 200 contains a sliding sleeve 210 between
the slide way 200 and the slider 100 for the slider 100 to move
smoothly.
[0020] The elastic supporting device 300 is disposed on the top
portion of the slide way 200 and contains two fixing bases 310 and
two supporting frames 320. The fixing bases 310 are disposed
respectively on the two sides of the top portion of the slide way
200. Each fixing base 310 contains a pivotal point 311 and an angle
adjusting groove 312.
[0021] One end of the supporting frame 320 is coupled to the
pivotal point 311 and the supporting frame 320 wiggles about the
pivotal point 311. The supporting frame 320 contains a pushing rod
331, a spring 332, and a fixing device 322. The pushing rod 331 is
disposed on the top portion of the supporting frame 320. The spring
332 is coupled between the pushing rod 331 and the supporting frame
320. The spring 332 provides the pushing rod 331 with a
predetermined elastic force, so that a front end of the pushing rod
331 supports the slider 100. The pushing rod 331 contains a roller
333 disposed on the front end of the pushing rod 331. The motion
between the slider 100 and the pushing rod 331 is smooth. The
fixing device 322 is disposed on the other end of the supporting
frame 320 and coupled to the angle adjusting groove 312. The angle
between the elastic supporting device 300 and the slider 100 is
determined by the position of the fixing device 322 coupled to the
angle adjusting groove 312, thereby adjusting the component forces
of the pushing rod 331 in the direction along the incline of the
slider and the horizontal direction.
[0022] The disclosed stepless height adjusting apparatus includes a
base 500 coupled to the bottom of the slide way 200 to increase a
stability of the apparatus as it stands.
[0023] When an external force is applied to adjust the height of
the slider 100, the slider 100 moves along the slide way 200. When
the external force is removed, the slider 100 stops at a determined
position by a balanced force between the elastic supporting device
300 and the incline of the slide 100 to achieve stepless height
adjustment.
[0024] As shown in FIG. 3A, when a device 900 such as a thin
display apparatus is installed on the coupling base 120, the slider
100 moves downward due to the gravity F1 of the slider 100 and the
device 900. An upward friction F2 is generated between the slider
100 and the sliding sleeve 210 of the slide way 200 as the slider
100 moves downward.
[0025] As shown in FIG. 3B, F2 counteracts by F1 to form a downward
gravity (F1-F2). This gravity can be decomposed into a component
force F3 in the direction along the incline of the slider and a
component force F4 in the horizontal direction. The elastic force
imposed by the spring on the pushing rod can also be decomposed
into a component force F5 in the direction along the incline of the
slider 100 and a component force F6 in the horizontal direction.
When the component force F3 of the gravity (F1-F2) is equal to the
component force F5 and the horizontal component force F4 is equal
to the component force F6, a static balance is reached to stop the
slider 100 and the device 900.
[0026] As shown in FIG. 3C, an external force F7 is applied to move
the slider 100 and the device 900 upward or downward. Since the
external force F7 breaks the static balance, the slider 100 and the
device 900 are moved upward or downward along the slide way 200.
Once the external force F7 is removed, the forces are balanced
again. Therefore, the slider 100 and the device 900 stop at a
determined position to achieve stepless height adjustment.
[0027] In FIG. 3C, the external force F7 is the upward external
force to lift the device 900. However, if F7 is a downward external
force, then the component force F8 of (F1-F2+F7) along the incline
of the slider is greater than F5. In this case, the device 900 is
moved downward by F7.
[0028] The above description only refers to a part of the slider
100 and the corresponding elastic supporting device 300. Since the
stepless height adjusting apparatus is axially symmetric, the above
explanation is sufficient to understand a relation between the
symmetric slider and the corresponding elastic supporting
device.
[0029] To support all kinds of devices with different weights, the
angle between the elastic supporting device 300 and the slider 100
is determined by adjusting the coupling position of the fixing
device 322 and the angle adjusting groove 312. The range of the
angle is between 0 degree and 90 degrees. When the pushing rod is
upward and parallel to the incline of the slider 100, the angle is
0 degree. When the pushing rod 331 pushes the slider 100 to become
perpendicular to the incline of the slider 100, the angle is 90
degrees. Thereby, the component forces of the pushing rod 331 in
the direction along the incline of the slider 100 and the
horizontal direction can be adjusted. The smaller the angle between
the elastic supporting device 300 and the slider 100 is, the large
component force in the direction along the incline of the slider
100 is and the smaller the horizontal component force is, so that
this is used for the heavy devices. On the other hand, the larger
the angle between the elastic supporting device 300 and the slider
100 is, the smaller the component force in the direction along the
incline of the slider 100 is and the larger the horizontal
component force is, so that this is used for lighter devices. When
the angle is 0 degree, the pushing rod 331 does not push and
support the slider 100. When the angle is greater than 90 degrees,
the elastic force of the spring 332 has a downward component along
the incline of the slider 100, which is the same direction as the
gravity of the device 900 and the slider 100. In this case, the
gravity of the device 900 and the slider 100 are not balanced.
Therefore, the angle between the slider 100 and the elastic
supporting device 300 of the present invention is preferably
between 0 and 90 degrees. The elastic supporting apparatus 300 can
be replaced by a stronger spring 332 to support heavier devices
that the original spring 332 cannot support.
[0030] Various kinds of modifications can be made to the disclosed
embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention. For
example, the incline of the slider 100 can be made into a curved
surface, in accord with the properties of the spring 332. As long
as the balanced force situation can be achieved between the elastic
supporting device 300 and the slider 100, then different shapes of
devices can be used. All such variations should be included within
the scope of the invention.
[0031] From the above-mentioned embodiments, that the invention has
the following advantages: [0032] 1. An elastic supporting device
replaces the coil spring to achieve stepless height adjustment and
solves the problems in a coil spring type of height adjusting
apparatus. [0033] 2. 2. The angle and/or the elastic force of the
elastic supporting device can be easily adjusted to support all
kinds of devices with different weights. [0034] 3. The disclosed
stepless height adjusting apparatus can be readily assembled or
disassembled for the convenience of device replacement and
maintenance.
[0035] Although the invention has been described with reference to
specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed
in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed
embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent
to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that
the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within
the true scope of the invention.
* * * * *