GB2215190A

GB2215190A - Collapsible platform for clerical tasks for attachment to vehicle steering wheel

Info

Publication number: GB2215190A
Application number: GB8803838A
Authority: GB
Inventors: George Cain
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-02-18
Filing date: 1988-02-18
Publication date: 1989-09-20
Also published as: GB8803838D0

Abstract

For attachment to vehicle steering wheel platform 100 has two halves 100a and 100b connected together by hinge assembly 101. A pair of hook-like latches serve to enable securement of the platform 100 to a car steering wheel with surfaces 1a and 1b in the same plane for use as a work surface. On removal of platform 100 from the steering wheel, the two platform halves may be folded so as to bring faces 1a and 1b into interfacial relationship for storage of the assembly. <IMAGE>

Description

Collapsible Work Platform for Clerical Tasks The invention relates to a collapsible work platform for use In performing clerical tasks inside a motor car or similar motor vehicle. The Invention has particular, although not exclusive, application In the context of sales representatives and similar persons.

Persons engaged in the conduct of business frequently need to travel, for example, to customers and suppiiers.

In connection with the conduct of business requiring travel, such persons frequently need to perform clerical tasks whilst absent from their offices. In general, it is the custom of such persons to perform such clerical tasks as writing by use of one of the flat surfaces of a briefcase carried by the person concerned in connection with his business. This practice Is satisfactory in some large measure when clerical work needs to be performed when travelling upon an alrcraft or a train. However, by far the bulk of business travel is normally done using motor vehicles, typically cars.

Manipulation of a briefcase within the confined environment of a motor vehicle Is difficult due to its size even when the briefcase is relatively lightly loaded. In practice, of course, briefcases are very often rather heavily loaded so that reorientation of a briefcase wlthin the confined environment of a motor vehicle is inconvenlent even when performed whilst seated In a passenger seat. A driver of a vehicle, of course1 would normally find it very Inconvenlent to have to transfer from the driver's seat to a passenger seat in order to perform clerical tasks, such a transfer normally requiring that the driver should leave the vehicle by one door and re-enter it at another.In practice, bearing In mind this inconvenience, the customary practice of business travellers using motor vehicles for transport Is to attempt to perform clerical tasks whilst seated In a driver's seat and to tolerate the Inconvenience, discomfort and inefficiency wlth which those tasks may be performed caused by the cramped space between the driver and the steering wheel and the difficulty of manipulating a briefcase wlthin it.

Although these problems have long been recognized, few solutions have been proposed to deal wlth them. On an Individual level, varlous persons engaged In business -travel may carry wlth them within their motor vehicles a board or similar Item which can serve as a working surface for clerical operations. Such a board Is normally of small thickness and lightweight and can therefore be manipulated in a vehicle more easily than can a briefcase and It Is also usual to provide a board of sufficient surface area that a much larger working surface can be provided.It Is, however, difficult to support such a board upon the lap of the driver unless he is prepared to accept the already mentioned inconvenience of exiting from the motor vehicle vla one door and re entering the motor vehicle so as to be seated In a passenger seat to carry out the clerical operatlons using the board surface. Supporting the board upon a steerlng wheel Is generally thought to be more acceptable but this gives rlse to discomfort and irrltatlon since the board tends to slip from the steerlng wheel surface.This leads to significant practical difficulties and In some cases attempts to prevent the board from slipping from the steering wheel simply give rlse to a loosening of hand retention of paperwork with the result that documentation can fall to the floor of the motor vehicle where it will be lost temporarily and where it will certainly be difficult to recover particularly from areas in the footwell and areas beneath seats.As already mentioned, boards tend to be used In a form which provides a relatively large surface area as needed for clerical operatlons. This is a difficulty In itself since a rigid board then needs to be stored In the motor vehicle and, unless the user is prepared to suffer the inconvenience of having to stow the board In the boot or trunk of the car, the board tends to be stored In the rear passenger area with resulting inconvenience when passengers need to be carrled. Small boards overcome these problems but are more difficult to work from due to theIr small surface area. For these reasons, working surfaces provided by boards and such like tend to be Individual solutions to practical problems rather than basis for commercial productivity and general use by business travellers at large.

According to the Inventlon, a collapsible work platform for use In performing clerical tasks inside a motor car or similar motor vehicle comprises two members each defining a face for constituting a portlon of a generally flat work surface and belng hinged one to the other by hinge means, the two members having a first orlentatlon In which they are Juxtaposed in adJacent edge-to-edge relatlonship in the same plane to form the work surface and a second orientation In which they are displaced abbut the hinge means so as to be Juxtaposed in two different planes In a face-to-face relationship between the members, the platform Including latch means for engaging a steering wheel rim of the motor vehicle when the two members are disposed in their first orientation.

Conveniently, the two members each define a flat face and a lip defining an extremity of the face.

Preferably, the two members each define a rectangular face.

In one embodiment of the invent ion, one or two opposed sides of the rectangular face of at least one of the members has a lip defining an extremity of the face and being substantlally co-extensive with the side. For example, the rectangular face of one member may have an extremity defined by a lip and a correspondingly disposed lip of the other member then defines a corresponding extremity of the rectangular face of the said other member.

Conveniently, the members are hinged at a first side of each, a second side perpendicular to the first has a lip upstanding above the plane of the rectangular face thereof and a third side opposed to the second has a lip upstanding as aforesaid.

The latch means Is preferably engageable with the steering wheel rim by disposing the platform wlth the two members thereof In their first orlentation upon or closely adjacent the plane of the steering wheel and displacing the platform In a plane parallel thereto until the rim Is received In a receptor of the latch means, the wheel rim and latch means being separable by displacement the reverse of the displacement aforesaid but not by displacement In a direction perpendicular to the displacements aforesaid.

The latch means conveniently has the configuration of a hook.

Conveniently, the latch means comprises a first latch secured to one of sald two members and a second latch secured to the other of sald two members.

Each of the two members preferably has a first face for constituting a port ion of the work surface and an opposed face carrying the latch means.

The latch means Is conveniently disposed in a cavity In a platform member when the platform members are In their second orientation. For example, the latch means comprises latching members which are collapsible manually Into said cavity, for example by collapsing about a hinge.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, each of the two platform members comprlses means defining a flat face, flange means extending from sald flat face-defining means so as to define a cavity beneath sald face by means of said flange means and sald flat face-defining means, and latch means collapsible Into sald cavity.

The two platform members are typically made of injection moulded plastics materlal.

The following descriptlon Is Intended to Illustrate the inventlon, by way of example only, reference belng made to the accompanying drawings In which: Figure 1 shows a work platform according to the invention secured upon the rim of a steering wheel of a motor vehicle; Figure 2 is a view essentially from the direction of the arrow 11 of Figure 1 showing the reverse side of the collapsible work platform of Figure 1, the components being shown as a partially exploded view; Flgure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 but with the steerlng wheel of the vehicle omitted and the components shown In the partially exploded condition represented in Figure 2; and Figure 4 Is a vlew on an enlarged scale of the components within the broken line IV of Figure 3.

The collapsible work platform shown in the drawings Is designated generally by the reference numeral 100. As will be seen from Figure 1 of the drawings, the platform 100 is mounted to and supported upon the rim 2 of a steerlng wheel whose column Is designated by reference numeral 3.

Platform 100 comprlses a palr of mirror image platform halfs 100, 100a each made of injection moulded plastics material and formed from the same injection tool. The platform half 100a comprises a flat rectangular surface 1a which In the condltlon of the platform represented in Figure 1 combines wlth a similar flat surface 1b of platform half 100b to form a rectangular work surface upon which clerical tasks may be performed. Top flange 6a, 6b Is Integral with the remalnder of the plastics moulding and defines an upper lip. In similar fashion, flanges 5a, 5b form a lower lip which it will be recognized is useful in serving to retain papers upon the work surface.

Side flanges 7a, 7b extend rearwardly from the work surface. Flanges 98a, 98b (Figure 3) occupy the opposed side of each platform half 100a, 100b to the flange 7a, 7b (but extend along only approximately half of the extent of the side concerned) as do flanges 99a, 99b.

As shown In Figures 1 and 3, the cavity defined beneath surfaces la, 1b by the flanges 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 99a and 99b are occupied by webs 15. The latter form an Integral part of the plastics moulding and serve to provide support for each of work surfaces la, 1b.

The two platform halfs 100a, 100b Join at a hinge assembly designated general ly by the reference numeral 101 In Flgures 1 to 3 of the drawings. As best shown In Figure 2, hinge assembly 101 comprises a palr of. hinge sub-assemblies 8a, 8b, one on each platform half. Each sub-assembly Is Integral in the plastics moulding witch the remalnder of the platform half 100a, 100b of which it forms part. An outermost flange 104 of each sub-assembly Is slotted as at 14a in the case of sub-assembly 8a and 14b In the case of sub-assembly 8b. Post moulding, each of these structures Is modifled so as to be hlngeable In the manner represented by arrows In Figure 2 of the drawings along both of Jolns 102 and 103.The condition of the sub-assemb I les as mou Ided is largely as represented by hinge assembly 8a in Figure 2, and hinge sub-assembly 8b as shown In Flgure 2 of the drawings is representative of the range of displacements of which the sub-assembi les are capable upon modification. The modified sub-assemblles represent what are referred to in the art as living hinges or plastic hinges" and the means by which modifIcatlon takes place will be well known to those In the plastics art and need no exposition wherein.

Cooperative with each hinge sub-assembly 8a, 8b is a hinge retainer represented In the case of the retainer respective to hinge sub-assembly 8b by the flanges 98a and 99a and by bars 10a. As will be seen from Figure 2 flanges 98a and 99a are the side flanges already referred to herein, the two being parallel but, as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings, only flange 99a being co-extensive with the side of the platform half 100a of which it forms part. Flanges 98a and 99a define between them a cavity 11a bridged by the bars 10a Just referred to above. In the assembled structure represented in Figure 1, flange 104 of sub-assembly 8b Is received in cavity 11a, slot 103 being received about bars 10a.Hinge sub-assembly 8a is received In similar fashion In cavity lib defIned between flanges 98b and 99b (Flgure 3).

As shown In Figures 1 and 3 of the drawings, the work platform 100 Is provided witch latches 4a, 4b by means of which the platform Is supported upon the steering wheel 2 of the motor vehicle (Figure 1). Referring to the enlarged scale view of one of these latches, namely latch 4b, shown in Figure 4, It will be seen that each latch comprises a hook strucfure having a main body port ion 17 and a leg 18. Body portion 17 and leg 18 define a recessed area 19 In which the rim of the steering wheel 2 can be recessed, as shown In Figure 1. Feet 20 of latch 4b are sandwiched agalnst web 15 by means of a cllp 16 usually made of metallic material.Typically, cllp 16 is made of spring steel and Is force fitted over the web 15 to secure the feet 20 of the latch 4b thereto by a clamping action, perhaps slightly Impinging Into the plastics surface of web 15. In similar fashion to hinge assemblies 8a, 8b, latch 4b is constructed as a "living hinge" or "plastic hinge" so as to be displaceable in the manner signified by the arrow shown in Figure 4 between a position In which, as shown in Figure 1, the latch receives the rim of the steering wheel In a plane beneath the platform 100 and a position In which the latch 4b Is recelved in the platform 100 within the cavity defined by the adJacent web 15 and the sheet plastics material defining the flat surface 1b of the platform. Latch 4a Is constructed and arranged in the same way as latch 4b.

To put the collapsible work platform to use, latches 4a and 4b are manually extended and will be found to remain In thelr extended condition without further Intervention to allow the platform to be mounted to the steering wheel 2. This is done simply by offering up the platform In the plane of the steerlng wheel with the latches 4a and 4b spaced radially somewhat from the circumference of the steering wheel. The platform can then be lowered onto the steering wheel and eased downwardly across the plane of the steering wheel until the rIm of the steering wheel Is received within the recessed areas 19 of each latch.

In this conditlon, the platform provides a work surface area represented by the sum of the areas of the work surfaces la and ib of each platform half 100a, 100b. The upper and lower llps provided by flanges 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, serve to assist in retaining paperwork upon the work surface and, of course, the work platform Is prevented from sllpping or inadvertent dislodgement from the steerlng wheel by the latches 4a and 4b.

Removal of the work platform from the steerlng wheel is the reverse of the operations already mentioned. Once removed, the work surface is too large to be conveniently stored In a normal motor vehicle used by business persons and can simply be hinged from its extended condition as shown In the drawings until surfaces la and 1b interface.

It will be appreciated that thins can easily be accomplished by displacement at the hinge sub-assemblies 8a, 8b. The result of this operation Is an assembly which, although thicker than each platform half 100a, 100b, has no greater surface area and can therefore readily be stored In a motor vehicle. When next required for use, the two platform halfs 100a, 100b are simply hinged apart and the extended platform disposed upon a steering wheel In the manner already described.

The invent Ion accordingly provides a most convenlent and practical work surface arrangement which can not only be easily and convenlently stored when not In use for clerical operatlons but which also provides a work surface of convenient size for such operations when in use and can be secured in position without the danger of slipping or dislodgement assoclated wlth past practices.

The invention as descrIbed earlier wlthout reference to the drawings may include any one or more features of the invention as descrlbed with reference to the drawings.

Claims

1. A collapsible work platform for use in performing clerical tasks Inside a motor car or s im I I ar motor vehicle, the platform comprising two members each defining a face for constitutIng a portlon of a generally flat work surface and being hinged one to the other by hinge means, the two members having a first orientation in which they are juxtaposed In adJacent edge-to-edge relationship In the same plane to form the work surface and a second orientation In which they are displaced about the hinge means so as to be Juxtaposed in two different planes In a face-to-face relationship between the members, the platform including latch means for engaglng a steering wheel rlm of the motor vehicle when the two members are disposed In their first orlentation.

2. A platform as claimed In Claim 1 wherein the two members each define a flat face and a lip defining an extremity of the face.

3. A platform as claimed In ClaIm 1 or Claim 2 wherein the two members each defIne a rectangular face.

4. A platform as clalmed in Claim 3 whereln one or two opposed sides of the rectangular face of at least one of the members has a lip defining an extremity of the face and belng substantially co-extensive with the side.

5. A platform as claimed In Claim 4 wherein the rectangular face of one member has an extremity defined by a lip and a correspondingly disposed lip of the other member defines a corresponding extremity of the rectangular face of the sald other member.

6. A platform as clalmed In any one of Claims 3 to 5 wherein the members are hinged at a first side of each, a second side perpendlcular to the first has a lip upstanding above the plane of the rectangular face thereof and a third side opposed to the second has a lip upstanding as aforesaid.

7. A platform as claimed in any preceding claim whereln the latch means Is engageable with the steerlng wheel rim by disposing the platform wlth the two members thereof in their first orlentatlon upon or closely adJacent the plane of the steerlng wheel and displacing the platform in a plane parallel thereto until the rim is received in a receptor of the latch means, the wheel rim and latch means being separable by displacement the reverse of the displacement aforesald but not by displacement In a direction perpendlcular to the displacements aforesaid.

8. A platform as claimed in Claim 7 wherein said latch means has the configuration of a hook.

9. A platform as claimed In any preceding claim wherein said latch means comprises a first latch secured to one of sald two members and a second latch secured to the other of sald two members.

10. A platform as claimed In any preceding claim wherein each of the two members has a first face for constituting a port ion of the work surface and an opposed face carrying sald latch means.

11. A platform as claimed in ClaIm 10 wherein sald latch means Is disposed In a cavity In a platform member when the platform members are In their second orientatlon.

12. A platform as clalmed In Clalm 11 wherein said latch means comprlses latching members which are collapsible manually Into sald cavity.

13. A platform as claimed In Claim 12 wherein the latching members are collapsible about a hinge.

14. A platform as claimed In any preceding claim wherein each of the two platform members comprises means defining a flat face, flange means extending from sald flat face-deflnlng means so as to define a cavity beneath said face by means of sald flange means and said flat face-defining means, and latch means collapsible Into sald cavity.

15. A platform as clalmed in any preceding claim wherein the two platform members are made of inject ion moulded plastics material.

16. A collapsible work platform for use In performing clerical tasks Inside a motor car or similar motor vehicle, substantlally as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as Illustrated in, the accompanying drawlngs.