Stand, in particular for holding up a document and/or a laptop.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Field of the invention
The invention relates to a stand, in particular for holding up a document and/or a laptop, comprising a bearing plate provided with an upper side, for bearing at least a part of the back of a document or a laptop, as well as a base plate connected to the bearing plate by a hinge, which plate when in use is situated on a solid surface, for example a desktop, and at least one support which can fold out, for supporting an edge of the document or a side wall of the laptop.
Prior art
Such a stand is known from the Dutch patent no. 1021094. With this known stand the supporting plate is made up of two plates connected to each other by hinges and which have been cut out of the bearing plate and are connected to it by a hinge on one edge. When in use and folded out, the supporting plate forms a triangle along with a part of the bearing plate as a result of which it can receive heavy loads.
Summary of the invention An objective of the invention is to provide a stand of the type described in the preamble in which the stand's supporting plate is simpler than the case is with the known stand. For this purpose, the stand according to the invention is characterized in that the supporting plate consists of one plate and is cut out of the bearing plate or the base plate and connected by a hinge on one edge to the bearing plate or the base plate and when being used extends at least partially from the upper side of the bearing plate. The supporting plate, therefore, consists of one plate unlike the known stand which is made up of various plates connected to each other by hinges. Because the supporting plate consists of one plate, it is
simpler and also sturdier than the known support. Preferably, the stand is made from one plate, in which the hinges are flexible hinges. An embodiment of the stand according to the invention is characterized in that a part of the bearing plate or a part of the base plate is connected to the rest of the bearing plate or the base plate respectively by hinges, and can be swung downwards or upwards respectively to the base plate or the bearing plate respectively and when folded out forms a support for the bearing plate. In this way a support for the bearing plate is made in a simple manner. A further embodiment of the stand according to the invention is characterized in that the supporting plate is cut out of the base plate and is connected to the bearing plate by a hinge on one edge and when in use is at least roughly an extension of the base plate. Therefore, the supporting plate also rests on a solid surface as a result of which it can receive heavy loads. The supporting plate has an upper side which, when in use, functions as a support for an edge of the document or a side wall of the laptop. Preferably, there is at least one projecting rib situated on the upper side of the supporting plate, which is parallel to the hinge and is preferably a strip of plastic or rubber, in order to prevent the laptop or the document from sliding off the supporting plate. Even more preferable are two parallel ribs situated at a distance from each other on the upper side of the supporting plate. One of the ribs can serve as a support for a laptop's side wall, and the other rib, situated further from the bearing plate, can serve here as a support for an edge of a document which is situated partially on top of the laptop. Another embodiment of the stand according to the invention is characterized in that the supporting plate is cut out of the base plate and is connected to one edge of the base plate by a hinge and when being used passes through a slot situated in the bearing plate and also partially protrudes from the upper side of the bearing plate and when folded out and in use, the base plate is situated at a distance from the bearing plate. The supporting plate is supported by the edge of the slot in the bearing plate at a distance from the hinged connection with the base plate as a result of which the supporting plate is very stable and sturdy when being used. Still a further embodiment of the stand according to the invention is
characterized in that there are holes in the bearing plate and studs on the base plate and/or the supporting plate which when the stand is folded up fit tightly together. Because of this the stand will not just fall open, but it can only be folded out by exerting some force on it.
Brief description of the drawings
The invention will be elucidated more fully below on the basis of drawings in which an embodiment of the stand according to the invention is shown. Shown are: Figure 1 : a perspective view of a first embodiment of the stand according to the invention when folded out; Figure 2: a view from above of the stand shown in figure 1 when almost entirely folded up; Figure 3 : a perspective view of a second embodiment of the stand according to the invention when folded out; Figures 4: a view from above of the stand shown in figure 3 when almost entirely folded up.
Detailed description of the drawings In figures 1 and 2, a first embodiment of the stand according to the invention is shown when folded out and when almost entirely folded up respectively. The stand 1 has a bearing plate 3 for bearing at least a part of the back of a document or laptop, as well as a base plate 5 connected to the bearing plate by a hinge, which plate when being used is situated on a solid surface, for example a desktop. The stand also has a supporting plate which is supporting plate 7, for supporting an edge or a side wall of the document or the laptop respectively. This supporting plate is cut out of the base plate and connected to it by a hinge. When in use, the supporting plate 7 passes through a slot 9 situated in the bearing plate, where a part 7a of the supporting plate protrudes from the upper side 3a of the bearing plate. A part of the base plate 5 is connected to the rest of the base plate by hinges and swings upwards to the bearing plate 3 forming a support 11 for the bearing plate. The upper edge 1 la of the support is situated in one of the slots 13 in the bearing plate 3.
The bearing plate 3 is connected by means of a flexible hinge 15a to the base plate 5. The supporting plate 7 is connected on one edge to the base plate by means of an additional flexible hinge 15b. Also the support 11 which is a part of the base plate 5 is connected to the rest of the base plate by means of a flexible hinge 15c. The stand 1 can therefore be made from one plate 3, 5, and 7, by means of injection moulding for example, in which the hinges are flexible hinges 15a- 15c. By swinging the bearing plate 3 in the direction of the arrow 17 about the hinge 15a to the base plate 5, the stand 1 is fully folded out, see figure 2. In figures 3 and 4, a second embodiment of the stand according to the invention is shown when folded out and when almost entirely folded up respectively. This stand 21 is wider than the one according to the first embodiment and is suitable for carrying two A4 documents next to each other instead of one. This stand 21 also has a bearing plate 23, a base plate 25 to which it is connected by a hinge, and a supporting plate 27 cut out of the base plate. This supporting plate is now, however, connected to the bearing plate 23 by a hinge and when folded out and in use is roughly an extension of the base plate 25 and is situated on a solid surface. In order to prevent the laptop or the document from sliding off the supporting plate, the upper side of the supporting plate 27a is provided with two parallel ribs 29 situated at a distance from each other, which are strips of plastic or rubber glued to the upper side 27a. With this stand 21 also, a part of the base plate 25 is connected to the rest of the base plate by hinges and swings upwards to the bearing plate 23, and provides a support 31 for the bearing plate. There is a layer of rubber 33 on a part of the bearing plate 23 to prevent a laptop or document on the stand from sliding off sideways. The bearing plate 23 is also connected to the base plate 25 by means of a flexible hinge 35a, and the supporting plate 27 is connected to the bearing plate on one edge by means of an additional flexible hinge 35b. The support 31 is also connected to the rest of the base plate by means of a flexible hinge 35c. Furthermore, this stand 21 is also made from one plate with flexible hinges 35a-35c. In order to keep the folded up plates 23, 25 and 27 of the stand 21 from folding out unexpectedly, there are holes 37 in the bearing plate 23, and on the base plate 25 as well as the supporting plate 27 there are studs 39, which when the stand is folded up
fit tightly in the holes 37. Because of this the stand will not just fall open, but can only be folded out by exerting some force on it. The studs 39 on the supporting plate 27, when folded out, also function as supports so that the supporting plate 27 will have a slight slope running from the bearing plate 23, as a result of which the edge of a laptop and/or a document will be supported better. Although in the above the invention is explained on the basis of the drawings, it should be noted that the invention is in no way limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings. The invention also extends to all embodiments deviating from the embodiments shown in the drawings within the context defined by the claims. Thus, the support may also, among other things, be a part of the bearing plate instead of the base plate. This is shown in figure 1 by the broken lines. The stand can also be made from one sandwich plate, which is composed of two parallel thin plates between which a plastic foil is situated that forms the flexible hinges.