GB2472820A

GB2472820A - Mounting for a satellite navigation device

Info

Publication number: GB2472820A
Application number: GB0914519A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sandra Mary Money; David Godfrey Money
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-08-19
Filing date: 2009-08-19
Publication date: 2011-02-23
Also published as: GB0914519D0

Abstract

A mounting arrangement for a satellite navigation 8 or other small portable device comprises a bag 1 within which are particles such as dried peas to add weight and make the bag mouldable and which has an anti-slip under-surface (2 Fig 1 not shown) and a purse-like opening 4 in the upper surface with cooperative strips of interlocking material , such as hook and loop, on facing edges so that the a support 7 for the device support 7 may be passed through the opening 4 and the opening 4 closed around the support 7 to hold the same. The particles may be captive within an inner bag 6 to which the support 7 may also be attached by means of cooperative patches of the same interlocking material on the upper surface of the inner bag 6 and the underside of the support 7.

Description

Improvements In Or Relating To Temporary Mounting Arrangements This invention relates to temporary mounting arrangements and in particular to such arrangements for mounting a small portable device, for example a satellite navigation device (usually referred to as a "SatNav" and so referred to hereinafter) in a vehicle.

By "vehicle" is meant a car, boat, aeroplane or other device which is provided to transport a person or persons from one place to another.

In the case of a SatNav used in a motor vehicle, holders are commonly provided to which the device may be attached and which adhere to a surface such as a windscreen by suction provided by a suction pad. Users are advised to remove not only the SatNav from the vehicle when it is left unattended, for fear of theft, but also the suction holder since a thief seeing the holder will know that a SatNav is used in the vehicle and may assume that the SatNav has been left hidden somewhere in the vehicle and deem it worthwhile to break into the vehicle on the chance that that is so.

Even if the suction holder is removed however, a telltale ring is often left imprinted on the screen by the suction pad. The use of a suction holder is therefore disadvantageous not only for that reason but also because repeatedly fitting and removing the suction holder can impair the ability of the suction pad to adhere by suction resulting in the grip asserted by the suction pad becoming unreliable.

If a holder permanently fixed within the vehicle is used, the holding of the device is much more certain, but again the holder acts as a telltale for a thief.

In addition, during use, it is often desirable to be able to move the SatNav from out of the view of one person, the driver for example, into the view of another person for example a passenger. Holders as described above, both ones permanently fixed and suction ones, do not lend themselves readily to this.

A mounting arrangement called the "Nay-Mat" (also known as the "Braketon Nay-Mat" is currently available from Southmid Products of Birmingham and retailers such as Lakeland Products and Halfords. This innovative and award winning arrangement consists of a weighted, mouldable pad or bag having an anti-skid or anti-slip under-surface and a disc-like platform on the upper surface to which a suction mount (as commonly provided to enable a SatNav to be attached to the windscreen of a car) may be attached by suction. When sat on top of a car's dashboard with the SatNav attached to the mount, the ant-skid under-surface resists movement of the mount in relation to the dashboard in response to changes in the motion of the car. The "Nay-Mat" may be used with small electronic devices other than a SatNav, such as a mobile phone, but in each case reliance is placed upon a suction connection between the platform on the bag and a suction mount for the device.

The present invention seeks to provide a comparable temporary mounting arrangement in which one or more of the above disadvantages are avoided or mitigated without reliance being placed upon a suction connection.

According to this invention a mounting arrangement for mounting a small portable device comprises a small bag containing small particles such as to enable it to be mouldable, a surface provided to be anti-slip and forming an under-surface in use and means whereby said small portable device may be held by said bag said means comprising a purse-like opening in a surface of the bag into which a support member for said small portable device may be inserted and said opening closed around it to hold said support member in position.

Preferably the surface in which the purse-like opening is provided is the upper surface in use, opposite to the anti-slip under-surface.

Preferably said purse-like opening is provided on facing edges with cooperative strips of interlocking material such as that known under the trade name "Velcro" whereby to hold the opening closed around the support member.

Said small portable device maybe permanently attached to said support member, but preferably said small portable device is detachable from said support member, said support member being formed as a separate holder to which the small portable device may be attached and detached at will.

Where said small portable device is a SatNav, said support member may conveniently be a suction holder as normally provided to adhere to the inner surface of a vehicle windscreen.

Preferably said small particles are captive within a removable inner bag.

Said inner bag may be made of calico.

Where said small particles are captive within an inner bag, preferably said purse-like opening is such that said inner bag may be inserted into or removed from out of the interior of small bag therethrough.

Additional to being held by said purse-like opening, the support member may also be provided to be attached to the inner bag either permanently or in such a manner as to be detachable from the inner bag at will.

Where the support member is provided to be attached to the inner bag in such a manner as to be detachable at will, preferably said support member and said inner bag have cooperative patches of "hook and loop" interlocking material such as that known under the trade name "Velcro" whereby said support member may be attached to or detached from said inner bag at will.

The envelope of the bag may be formed of any suitable flexible material, including leather, but preferably the envelope is formed, at least in the main, of cloth stitched up as required.

The anti-slip surface may be provided by a patch of anti-slip underlay as available for placing beneath domestic rugs or mats to reduce the tendency for the rug or mat to creep. The patch may be attached to the under-surface of the bag or, and preferably, said patch forms part of the envelope of the bag and itself provides the under-surface of the bag.

The small particles within the bag may take any suitable form, for example ball bearings, small beads, dried peas or lentils. In a preferred embodiment of the invention said small particles are dried peas. So-called "bean bags" which, to a much larger scale, are use to provide temporary seating or pet bedding usually contain polystyrene "balls". Generally the use of polystyrene for the small particles used in the present invention is not favoured because polystyrene is a very light material whereas dried peas, for example, add comparatively much greater weight to the bag and thus a lower overall centre of gravity when the device and its support member is in place. It will be appreciated that the higher the overall centre of gravity, the greater any tendency of the assembly to tip in response to violent changes in the vehicle's motion will be. In addition, the more the support member can be nestled down into the bag, the lower the centre of gravity.

In accordance with a further development of the invention, ballast weighting is added to the bag at a low level in order to lower the overall centre of gravity. Preferably, where a removable inner bag is used, the ballast weighting is attached to the removable inner bag and preferably to the under-surface of the inner bag. Preferably the ballast weighting is distributed around the perimeter of the under-surface.

The ballast weighting may comprise lead discs similar to those often used to weigh down the bottoms of domestic curtains, stitched to the under-surface of the inner bag.

Additionally or alternatively, the ballast weighting may comprise leaded cord, again as used to weigh down the bottoms of domestic curtains, stitched to the under-surface of the inner bag.

Preferably, particularly when said small portable device is a SatNav with a "touch screen" for inputting data (e.g. inputting a desired destination), a small sleeve is formed on one surface of the mounting arrangement to house a pointer which may be used to touch the key areas of the screen and input the data.

Whilst primarily intended for use with a SatNav, the temporary mounting arrangement may also find use, for example, to mount a small device in the form of a mirror which is either of the kind which has a suction pad for adhering to a vehicle's windscreen or is provided with a custom-made holder, whereby the mirror may be held on said other surface as described above. This enables a driver or passenger readily temporarily to position the mirror so as to be able to observe a child to the rear and visually check periodically on the child's well-being.

A mounting alTangement in accordance with the present invention, in this case for holding a SatNav, is illustrated in and further described with reference to Figures 1 to 6 the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 illustrates the under-surface of the arrangement, Figure 2 is a front elevation of the arrangement, Figure 3 is a side elevation of the arrangement, Figure 4 is a top elevation of the arrangement, Figure 5 shows the inner bag of the alTangement of Figures 1 to 4, Figure 6 illustrates the arrangement complete with a SatNav held thereby, Figure 7 illustrates a modification to the anangement shown in Figures 1 to 6 and Figures 8 to 10 illustrate a further development of the invention, Figure 10 being a cross-sectional view of the section A-A in Figure 9 with the SatNav 8 nestled down low into depression 11 formed in the bag 6 as the SatNav 8 is nestled down.

Referring to the drawings a small bag 1, of a size to sit comfortably on the scuttle of a motor car behind the front windscreen, in this case approximately 200 mm in width mm in length and 30 mm in height made of cloth, stitch up as required. The underside is formed largely of anti-slip material 2 of the kind as available for use as an underlay for domestic rugs or mats to reduce the tendency of the rug or mat to creep. In this particular case the anti-slip material used was that available under the trade name "Slipagrip". The upper surface 3 is formed with a purse-like opening 4 having strips of "hook and ioop" interlocking material, as available under the trade name "Velcro", on facing edges 5 whereby the purse-like opening 4 may be held closed.

The bag 1 is provided to contain an inner bag 6 of calico captive within which is a quantity of dried peas such as to enable the bag to be mouldable. The inner bag 6 is provided to be inserted in the bag 1 and removed therefrom though the purse-like opening 4. Removing the inner bag 6 facilitates cleaning of the bag 1 should this be required. Any accumulation of dirt or dust on the underside of the bag 1 will tend to reduce the friction between the anti-slip under-surface and the surface upon which the bag 1 sits.

In use, as illustrated in Figure 6, with the inner bag 6 inserted within the bag 1, the suction cup of a suction holder 7 as usually available from the manufacturer of the SatNav 8 is inserted within the bag 1 through the purse-like opening 4 which is then closed around the holder, bringing the strips of interlocking material on the facing edges together to hold the holder 7 in position. The SatNav 8 is attached to the holder in the normal way and the assembly is sat on the scuttle of the car in which the SatNav is to be used. The SatNav holder 7 is bedded down into the small particles in the inner bag 6 until the SatNav 8 is at a suitable viewing angle for the driver or other occupant of the car who is able to view the screen of the SatNav 8. The ant-slip material 2 is relied upon to provide the adhesion required to inhibit movement of the assembly in response to acceleration, deceleration and cornering of the car.

When the car is parked, the whole arrangement may be removed from view without leaving any telltale signs that a SatNav may have been left within the car. If desired, the bag 1 may be provided to act as a storage or canying case for the SatNav when it is not in use.

The expressions "front elevation" and "side elevation" used in introducing Figures 2 and 3 are used relatively and do not necessarily imply any particular orientation when the arrangement is in use within a vehicle and the expressions permanently attached' and detachable at will' are used respectively to mean, on the one hand not normally detachable in use and on the other hand attached and detached as part of the normal use of the arrangement.

In another embodiment, not illustrated but otherwise as described and illustrated with reference to Figures 1 to 6, an elongate pocket is provided on the upper surface 3 in which a pointer may be housed for use in facilitating the selection of characters on the screen of a touch-screen display. This is particularly useful in those cases in which a holder for a character-selecting pointer does not form an integral part of the housing of the Sat Nay.

Referring to Figure 7, the anangement is generally similar to that described with reference to and illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 and similar reference numbers relate to similar parts. In this case, however, additional to being held by the purse-like opening 4, the SatNav holder 7 is also be provided to be attached to the inner bag 6.

This is achieved by providing cooperative patches of "hook and loop" interlocking material, as available under the trade name "Velcro" to the upper surface of the inner bag 6 and the underside of the SatNav holder 7. The patch applied to the underside of the holder 7 is not visible in the view given in Figure 6. The patch applied to the upper surface of the inner bag 6 is represented at 9. It is preferred to attach the holder 7 to the inner bag 6 before introducing the inner bag 6 into the outer bag 1 and closing the purse-like opening 4 around the holder 7 but if desired the cooperative patches on the upper surface of the inner bag 6 and the underside of the holder 7 may be brought together with the inner bag 6 in position within the outer bag 1. Detaching the holder 7 from the inner bag 6 after use is achieved by peeling the two patches apart in the usual fashion either before or after the inner bag 6 is removed from the outer bag 1.

Referring to Figures 8 to 10, in the further development illustrated, high density ballast weights such as lead discs 10, similar to lead discs used to add weight to the bottoms of domestic curtains, are stitched to the underside of the inner bag 6 and distributed around the perimeter thereof. The lead discs act as ballast weighting at a low level so as to lower the overall centre of gravity of the assembly and reduce any tendency of the assembly to tip and thus cause the contact between the anti-slip under-surface to be reduced. Figure 10 also illustrates the SatNav 8 nestled down low into the depression 11 formed in the inner bag as the SatNav 8 is nestled down. Without the lead discs 10, Figure 10 would also be an illustration of the effect of nestling the SatNav 8 down in the embodiments illustrated in any of the other Figures. One advantage of using distributed lead discs and/or leaded cord is that the required ballast weighting may be achieved whilst retaining the ability to mould the bag to the shape of the surface upon which it is placed.

It will be appreciated that all of the Figures are schematic to the extent that the edges of the bags 1 and 6 and the depression 11 are represented by straight lines whereas in practice the edges would be softer and more irregular in line on account of the materials of which the items are made and the desired shape of the device.

The shape of the bag is not critical. It could, for example, be generally rectangular in plan, as illustrated, or round or have a novelty shape such as that of a character figure or character animal.

Claims

Claims 1) A mounting arrangement for mounting a small portable device comprises a small bag containing small particles such as to add weight to the bag and enable it to be mouldable, a surface provided to be anti-slip and forming an under-surface in use and means whereby said small portable device may be held by said bag, said means comprising a purse-like opening in a surface of the bag into which a support member for said small portable device may be inserted and said opening closed around it to hold said support member in position.
2) An arrangement as claimed in claim 1 and wherein the surface in which the purse- like opening is provided is the upper surface in use, opposite to the anti-slip under-surface.
3) An arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2 and wherein said purse-like opening is provided on facing edges with cooperative strips of interlocking material such as that known under the trade name "Velcro" whereby to hold the opening closed around the support member.
4) An arrangement as claimed in any of the above claims and wherein said small portable device is detachable from said support member, said support member being formed as a separate holder to which the small portable device may be attached and detached at will.
5) An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 and wherein said small portable device is permanently attached to said support member.
6) An arrangement as claimed in claim 4 wherein said small portable device is a SatNav, and said support member is a suction holder as normally provided to adhere to the inner surface of a vehicle windscreen.
7) An arrangement as claimed in any of the above claims and wherein said small particles are captive within a removable inner bag.
8) An arrangement as claimed in claim 7 and wherein said inner bag is of calico.
9) An arrangement as claimed in claim 7 or 8 and wherein said purse-like opening is such that said inner bag may be inserted into or removed from out of the interior of small bag therethrough.
10) An arrangement as claimed in any of the above claims and wherein the envelope of said first mentioned bag is formed, at least in the main, of cloth stitched up as required.
11) An arrangement as claimed in any of the above claims and wherein the anti-slip surface is provided by a patch of anti-slip underlay as available for placing beneath domestic rugs or mats to reduce the tendency for the rug or mat to creep.
12) An arrangement as claimed in claim 12 and wherein said patch is attached to the under-surface of the bag.
13) An arrangement as claimed in claim 10 or 11 and wherein said patch forms part of the envelope of the bag and itself provides the under-surface of the bag.
14) An arrangement as claimed in any of the above claims and wherein the small particles within the bag are dried peas.
15) An arrangement as claimed in any of the above claims wherein said small portable device is an electronic device such as a SatNav with a "touch screen" for inputting data such as a desired destination, a small sleeve being formed on one surface of the mounting arrangement to house a pointer which may be used to touch the key areas of the screen and input data.
16) An arrangement as claimed in claim 7 or any of the above claims 8 to 15 as dependant on claim 7 and wherein said support member is provided to be attached to said inner bag.
17) An arrangement as claimed in claim 16 and wherein said support member is permanently attached to said inner bag.
18) An arrangement as claimed in claim 16 and wherein said support member is detachable at will from said inner bag.
19) An arrangement as claimed in claim 18 and wherein said support member and said inner bag have cooperative patches of "hook and loop" interlocking material such as that known under the trade name "Velcro" whereby to attach said support member to said inner bag.
20) An arrangement as claimed in any of the above claims and wherein ballast weighting is added to the bag at a low level in order to lower the overall centre of gravity.
21) An arrangement as claimed in claim 20 and wherein a removable inner bag is used, said ballast weighting being attached to the removable inner bag.
22) An arrangement as claimed in claim 21 and wherein said ballast weighting is attached to the under-surface of the inner bag.
23) An arrangement as claimed in claim 22 and wherein said ballast weighting is distributed around the perimeter of said under-surface.
24) An arrangement as claim in any of claims 20 to 23 and wherein the ballast weighting comprises lead discs similar to those often used to weigh down the bottoms of domestic curtains, stitched to the under-surface of the inner bag.
25) An arrangement as claim in any of claims 20 to 24 and wherein the ballast weighting comprises leaded cord, similar to that often used to weigh down the bottoms of domestic curtains, stitched to the under-surface of the inner bag.
26) An arrangement substantially as described with reference to and illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.
27) An arrangement substantially as described with reference to and illustrated in Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.
28) An arrangement substantially as described with reference to and illustrated in Figures 8 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.