GB2416062A

GB2416062A - Pivot arm suspension unit for a display device

Info

Publication number: GB2416062A
Application number: GB0414848A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ray Hung
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-07-02
Filing date: 2004-07-02
Publication date: 2006-01-11
Anticipated expiration: 2024-07-02
Also published as: GB2416062B; GB0414848D0

Abstract

A pivot arm suspension unit for a display device such as a LCD-screen or other flat screen monitors has a first arm (10) pivotally mounted to a ceiling, a second arm (30) pivotally connected with the first arm, and an upright arm (40) with an attaching base (50) connected to the second arm. Thereby, the attaching arm can be adjusted at joints between arms (10, 30, 40) and the attaching base (50) to make the pivot arm suspension unit mobile, in different orientations. Additionally, a pressure cylinder (36) with an adjusting device (35) pivotally extends from the second arm (30) to the upright arm (40) to provide a proper force to make the upright arm stable even when the second arm (30) inclined. Moreover, multiple wire grooves are defined in the first and second arms to collect wires to keep the pivot arm suspension unit neat in appearance.

Description

PIVOT ARM SUSPENSION UNIT FOR A DISPLAY DEVICE

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a pivot arm suspension unit, and more particularly to a pivot arm suspension unit for suspending a display and having multiple sections to be adjusted individually and conveniently.

2. Description of Related Art

A conventional suspension unit for a display device comprises an extending post attached to a room's ceiling and a box pivotally attached under the extending post. The box accommodates a display device such as a television o and is rotatable to different angles within a small range. The structure of the conventional pivot arm suspension unit must be simple and firm for suspension because the television is very heavy and bulky. However, with the introduction and phenomenal popularity of thin displays such as liquid crystal displayers (LCD), the conventional pivot arm suspension unit is no longer suitable because is of the size and the weight of the display are dramatically changed. The pivot arm suspension unit needs to be modified to meet the great viewing position opportunities possible with the thin display.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate or obviate the drawbacks of the conventional pivot arm suspension unit.

so The main objective of the present invention is to provide a pivot arm suspension unit that is particularly suitable for a slimline, lightweight display.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a pivot arm suspension unit for a slimline, lightweight display and which can be conveniently adjusted in different segments.

Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

IN THE DRAWINGS

s Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pivot arm suspension unit for a display device in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the pivot arm suspension unit showing a first arm and a second arm in partial section; Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the pivot arm suspension unit lo showing the second arm, a distal arm, an attaching base and two movable joints therebetween; Fig. 4 is an assembled cross-sectional side plane view of elements of the pivot arm suspension unit shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an operational side plane view of the elements of the pivot arm Is suspension unit in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an operational top plane view of the distal arm of the pivot arm suspension unit in partial section; Fig. 7 is an operational top plane view of the attaching base of the pivot arm suspension unit in partial cross-section along line 7-7 in Fig. 1; and to Fig. 8 is another operational top plane view of the attaching base of the pivot arm suspension unit in partial cross-section along line 8-8 in Fig. 1.

A pivot arm suspension unit for a display device in accordance with the present invention comprises a first arm pivotally mounted to a room's ceiling, a second arm pivotally connected with the first arm, and an upright arm with an attaching base pivotally connected to the second arm. Thereby, the attaching arm can be adjusted at joints between arms and the attaching base to make the attaching arm versatile in structure. Additionally, multiple wire grooves are defined in the first and second arms to collect wires therein when the display s device is mounted on the pivot arm suspension unit.

With reference to Figs 1 to 4, a preferred embodiment of the pivot arm suspension unit in accordance with the present invention comprises a first arm (10), a second arm (30), an upright arm (40) and an attaching base (50).

The first arm (10) has a U-shaped bottom rail (13) with two ends, two lo sleeves (11, 12) including a first sleeve (11) and a second sleeve (12) respectively formed at the two ends of the bottom rail (13), a wire collector (14) accommodated inside the bottom rail (13) and a top rail (16) engaged with the bottom rail (13). The first sleeve (11) is adapted to engage with an engaging ring ( 15) mounted on a positioning post (not shown) embedded in the ceiling. The Is first sleeve (11) has a top edge and a top stop (111) formed on the top edge.

Correspondingly, the engaging ring (15) further has a bottom edge and a bottom stop ( 151) formed on the bottom edge to operationally abut the top stop ( 111) when the first arm (10) pivots about the engaging ring (15). The second sleeve (12) is engaged with the second arm (30) and has a bottom edge with a bottom to stop ( 121). The wire collector ( 14) accommodated inside the bottom rail ( 13) extends longitudinally between the two sleeves ( 11, 12) to collect wires (not shown) extending between an electrical source and the display device.. The top rail (16) is a long strip with two ends and has two wire holes (161, 162) respectively defined in the two ends of the top rail (16) for entrance and exit of the wires.

The second arm (30) has a pivotal post (31) with a bracket (313), a bottom frame (33), a top frame (32), an optional cover (37), a pressure cylinder (36), and a pressure adjusting device (35). The pivotal post (31) is a cylindrical s tube with a top edge and an outer periphery. A top stop (312) is formed on the top edge of the pivotal post (31) and the bracket (313) composed of two opposite plates is formed on the outer periphery of the pivotal post (31). The bottom frame (33) and the top frame (32) each have a first end and a second end.

The two frames (33, 32) are pivotally attached to the bracket (313) at the first to ends and parallel with each other. The second ends of the bottom frame (33) and the top frame (32) are pivotally engaged with the upright arm (40) and have two slots (322, 332) respectively defined in the second ends. The optional cover (37) is longitudinally mounted on the top frame (32) and has a round hole (372) defined in the cover (37) near the second end of the top frame (32). The pressure Is cylinder (36) has a forked end (361) pivotally connected to an inner periphery of the bottom frame (33) by a pin (331) and a round end (362) pivotally connected to the pressure adjusting device (35).

The pressure adjusting device (35) is accommodated inside one end of the vertical arm (40) and is composed of a fixing sheet (35), a driven block to (351), and a driving screw (352). Correspondingly, the upright arm (40) has a round head (34) integrally formed on the end adjacent to the second arm (30).

The round head (34) has a space (341) vertically defined through the round head (34) for accommodating the pressure adjusting device (35). The fixing sheet (353) is immovably attached on the round head (34) by means of multiple screws to partially cover the space (341) and has a dent defiecd at one edge of the fixing sheet (353) facing the upright arm (40). The driven block (351) is movably received inside the space (341) and has a pivotal portion (354) pivotally connected with the round head (362) of the pressure cylinder (36). The s driving screw (352) with a head rests on the fixing sheet (353) in the dent and extending downward to threadedingly engage with the driven block (351).

Therefore, when the driving screw (352) rotates via the though hole (372) on the cover (37), the driven block (351) moves up or down inside the space (341) to adjust a force of the pressure cylinder (36). Additionally, two pairs of covers (38, lo 39) are detachably mounted on joints at two ends of the second arm (30) and a wire groove (321) is defined in a top face of the top frame (32) for collecting wires.

The upright arm (40) pivotally engages with the attaching base (50) by means of a rotational assembly (401). The upright arm (40) has the round head (34), an extending post (342) integrally formed with the round head (34), and a pair of shells (344) covering the extending post (342). The extending post (342) further has a distal rim (343) to engage with the rotational assembly (401).

The rotational assembly (401) comprises a central post (41) with a low connecting block (416), a casing (42), and a switch bottom (43). The casing (42) to is composed of two shells and has an inner space (422) and a locking hole (421) defined in a top of the casing (42) for engaging with a neck of the distal rim (343). The central post (41) is accommodated inside the casing (42) and has an upper annular rib (411) and a lower annular rib (413) formed around the central post (41). Additionally, the casing (42) further has a through hole defined in a bottom of the casing (42) for engaging a neck under the lower annular rib (413).

Each annular rib (411, 413) has a stop (412, 414) formed on the central post (41) and diametrically opposite to the other stop.. Meanwhile, the stop (412) on the upper annular rib (411) extends to the lower annular rib (413) and the stop (414) on the lower annular rib (413) extends to the upper annular rib (411). The switch bottom (43) is movably mounted on the casing (42) and has an insert (431) extending into the inner space (422) of the casing (42) to selectively engage the two stops (412, 414) on the upper and lower annular ribs (411, 413). The connecting block (416) is formed near a bottom of the central post (41) and has lo a pivotal hole (417) defined in the connecting block (416).

The attaching base (50) is composed of a front plate (51) and a rear pivotal bracket (52). The front plate (51) has multiple threaded holes (53) defined therein to combine with the display by means of screws. The pivotal bracket (52) has two ears and a middle space formed between the two ears for Is receiving the connecting block (416) inside. When the connecting block (416) is clamped between the two ears, two attaching nails in a pair respectively penetrate through the ears of the pivotal bracket (52) to pivotally and respectively engage with two sides ofthe connecting block (416).

With reference to Figs. 4 and 5, the second arm (30) is kept steady in a to horizontal direction because the pressure cylinder provides a force between the second arm (30) and the upright arm (40). When the second arm (30) is pressed downward, the driving screw (352) is rotated to lower the driven block (351) to increase the force of the pressure cylinder (36) until the second arm (30) is stable in a desired inclined position. Thereby, the display can be placed at a high or low place by adjusting the second arm (30) and the pressure adjusting device (35) to a stable condition.

With reference to Fig. 6, the first arm (10) and the second arm (20) can be pivotally rearranged in different orientations but not beyond 360 because the top stop (312) on the pivotal post (31) is blocked by the bottom stop (121) under the second sleeve (12) of the first arm (10).

With reference to Figs. 7 and 8, the attaching base (50) also pivots on the upright arm (40). Particularly, the attaching base (50) can rotate in two stages. When the switch block (43) is at an upper stage, the insert (431) on the lo switch block (43) engages with the stop (412) of the upper annular rib (411) so that the attaching base (50) only rotates in front of the upright arm (40) as shown in Fig. 7. When the switch block (43) is at a lower stage, the insert (431) on the switch block (43) engages with the stop (414) of the lower annular rib (411) so that the attaching base (50) only rotates behind the upright arm (40) as Is shown in Fig. 8. By switching between the two stages of the switch block (43), the attaching base (50) can be rotated beyond 360 .

According to the above description, the pivot arm suspension unit of the present invention has the following advantages: 1. The pivot arm suspension unit has multiple adjustable joints between the multiple sections so that the pivot arm suspension unit can be adjusted to different heights and different orientations. Therefore, shape changing of the pivot arm suspension unit is versatile.

2. Adding the pressure cylinder (36) between the second arm (30) and the upright arm (40) provides an extra force to support the weight attached on the pivot arm suspension unit. Additionally, the pressure adjusting device enables the pressure cylinder (36) to have different forces to keep the second arm (30) in balance.

3. The wire grooves (14, 321) defined in the first arm (lo) and the second arm (30) collect the wires electrically connected to the display to keep the appearance of the pivot arm suspension unit neat.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to multiple preferred embodiments, many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as lo hereinafter claimed.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A pivot arm suspension unit for a display device comprising: a

first arm (10) adapted to be attached to a ceiling; an upright arm (40) having a round head (34) and an extending post s (342) extending down from the round head (34) to adapt to connect with the display device; and a second arm (30) pivotally connected between the first arm (lo) and the upright arm (40) and having: two ends; to a pivotal post (31) formed at one end of the second arm (30) to pivotally engage with the first arm (10); a pressure adjusting device (35) attached at the other end of the second arm (30) to connect to the upright arm (40); a bottom frame (33) and a top frame (32) parallel with each other and pivotally connected between the pivotal post (31) and the upright arm (40); and a pressure cylinder (36) pivotally connected between the bottom frame (33) and the pressure adjusting device (35) to provide a force to the upright arm (40) to keep the second arm (30) in balance, wherein the so pressure adjusting device (35) is operated to control the force of the pressure cylinder (36).
2. The pivot arm suspension unit as claimed in claim I, wherein the upright arm (40) has a round head (34) with a space (341) vertically defined through the round head (34); the pressure adjusting device comprises: a fixing sheet (35) mounted partially over the space (341); a driven block (351) movably received inside the space (341) and having a pivotal portion (354) pivotally connected to the pressure cylinder (36); and a driving screw (352) with a head rested on the fixing sheet (353) and extending downward to threadingly engage with the driven block (351) to move the driven block (351) up or down when the driving screw (352) rotates.

to
3. The pivot arm suspension unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upright arm (40) further has a rotational assembly attached under the extending post (342) of the upright arm (40) to engage with the attaching base (50) whereby, the rotational assembly comprises: a casing (42) composed of two shells and having a top and a locking hole (421) defined in the top to clamp on the extending post (342); a central post (41) partially accommodated inside the casing (42) and having: an upper annular rib (411) and a lower annular rub (413) respectively formed around the central post (41), wherein two stops (412, Jo 414) are respectively formed on the upper annular rib (411) and the lower annular rib (413) and diametrically opposite to each other, the stop (412) on the upper annular rib (411) extends to the lower annular rib (413) and the stop (414) on the lower annular rib (413) extends to the upper annular rib (411); a switch block (43) movably mounted on the casing (42) and having an insert (431) extending into the casing (42) to selectively engage the two stops (412, 414) on the upper lower annular ribs (411, 413) ; and a connecting block (416) formed near a bottom of the central post (41) to engage the attaching base (50).
4. The pivot arm suspension unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the upright arm (40) further has a rotational assembly attached under the extending post (342) of the upright arm (40) to engage with the attaching base (50) lo whereby, the rotational assembly comprises: a casing (42) with a top composed of two shells and having a top and a locking hole (421) defined in the top to clamp on the extending post (342); a central post (41) partially accommodated inside the casing (42) and having: an upper annular rib (411) and a lower annular rub (413) respectively formed around the central post (41), wherein two stops (412, 414) are respectively formed on the upper annular rib (411) and the lower annular rib (413) and diametrically opposite to each other, the stop (412) on the upper annular rib (411) extends to the lower annular rib (413) and to the stop (414) on the lower annular rib (413) extends to the upper annular rib (411); and a switch block (43) movably mounted on the casing (42) and having an insert (431) extending into the casing (42) to selectively engage the two stops (412, 414) on the upper lower annular ribs (411, 413); and a connecting block (416) formed near a bottom ofthe central post (41) to engage the attaching base (50).
5. The pivot arm suspension unit as claimed in claims 4, wherein the s first arm (10) has a sleeve (11) with a bottom edge formed at one end adjacent to the second arm (30) and a bottom stop (111) formed on the bottom edge ofthe sleeve ( 1 1); the pivotal post (3 1) abuts the bottom edge of the sleeve ( 11) and has a top edge and a top stop (312) formed on the top edge of the pivotal post (31) to to operationally engage with the bottom stop (111) of the sleeve (11) on the first arm (10) when the second arm (30) rotates.
6. The pivot arm suspension unit as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first arm (10) is composed of a bottom rail (13) and a wire collector (14) longitudinally accommodated inside the bottom rail (13); is wherein, the second arm (30) has a wire groove (321) defined longitudinally along the top frame (32).
7. The pivot arm suspension unit as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first arm (10) further has a top rail (16) mounted on the bottom rail (13) to cover the wire collector (14); and so wherein, the second arm (30) further has a cover (37) mounted over the top frame to cover the wire groove (321).