Adjustable hands-free mounting apparatus for tablet PCs with expanded description of its miniature subcombinations

摘要

This disclosure of the previously presented invention describes a small sized collapsible frame for use in certain embodiments of said apparatus for adjustably mounting a tablet PC or other personal electronic device, including additional examples of its many adjustment and attachment features. A mounting means, such as a suction cup assembly, is attachable to various surfaces and is connected to a hanger from which cordage or straps descend to the suspended frame. The miniaturized frame features a crossover arrangement of two slats enabling expansion and contraction of either a width or a height dimension of said frame. The invention comprises various swappable stabilizer elements to separately regulate the orientation and attachment of the mounted device(s) to any surface; and herein, the threadable stabilizer cleats that attach to the cordage are described in particular detail.

主权项

1. An apparatus for mounting a portable electronic device, the apparatus comprising:
a mounting means connected to a hanger, cordage descending vertically from the hanger and attaching to a left side and a fight side of a collapsible frame, said cordage having an effective length corresponding to a distance between the hanger and the frame, and wherein both of the left side and the fight side of the frame are oriented vertically and in parallel separated by a distance defining an adjustable width dimension of the collapsible frame, an adjustment means for adjusting the effective length of the cordage, the adjustment means being attached to an end portion of the cordage, at least one horizontally oriented pair of clips, wherein one clip of each pair is attached to the left side of the frame and the other clip of that pair is attached to the fight side of the frame, where said pair of clips comprises a means for holding the portable electronic device between them, a first vertically oriented clip attached to a lower end of the left side of the frame for supporting a bottom edge of the electronic device, and a second vertically oriented clip attached to a lower end of the right side of the frame for supporting said bottom edge of said electronic device, wherein each of the left side of the frame and the fight side of the frame further comprises a longitudinally extending groove for receiving and retaining at least one of a fastener therein, such that the groove provides a track means for allowing said fastener to travel longitudinally along that respective side of the frame within that groove, a top side of the frame comprising a top slat having a length dimension and a width dimension and a centerpoint in the plane defined by said length dimension and said width dimension, a bottom side of the frame comprising a bottom slat having said length dimension and a width dimension and a centerpoint in the plane defined by said length dimension and said width dimension, where said top slat is rotatably attached at its centerpoint to the centerpoint of said bottom slat by a pivot means, whereby the plane of the top slat lies parallel to the plane of the bottom slat, and such that the top slat and the bottom slat counter-rotates around the pivot means and thereby alternate between a first relative lengthwise orientation having a transverse configuration and a second relative lengthwise orientation having a parallel configuration; and wherein a left end of the top slat is connected to the left side of the frame by one of said fastener and a fight end of the top slat is connected to the right side of the frame by another of said fastener, whereby a person who is using the apparatus, by moving the left side of the frame horizontally inwards and moving the fight side of the frame horizontally inwards, causes the top slat and the bottom slat to counter-rotate towards said relative lengthwise orientation having the parallel configuration, thus reducing said adjustable width dimension of the collapsible frame, and whereby the person, by moving the left side of the frame horizontally outwards and moving the right side of the frame horizontally outwards, causes the top slat and the bottom slat to counter-rotate towards said relative lengthwise orientation having the transverse configuration, thus expanding said adjustable width dimension of the collapsible frame.