WO2008155644A2

WO2008155644A2 - Cell phone holder for wall chargers

Info

Publication number: WO2008155644A2
Application number: PCT/IB2008/001614
Authority: WO
Inventors: Meir Amiram
Original assignee: Meir Amiram
Priority date: 2007-06-19
Filing date: 2008-06-19
Publication date: 2008-12-24
Also published as: WO2008155644A3

Abstract

A cell phone holder is disclosed, having a holder member (6), (26), (46), which preferably comprises a receptacle (2) (22a) (42a) (52a) capable of holding a cell phone in an upright orientation, and a stem member (4) (14) (24) (44) (54) configured to be connected to a wall charger for holding the cell phone in upright orientation from above the wall charger (105) when the wall charger is connected to a wall outlet of a domestic AC network.

Description

CELL PHONE HOLDER FOR WALL CHARGERS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is in the field of cell phone holders.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many cell phone users use desk holders for placing their phones when staying at home or at work. Some of the desk holders function as charging stations adapted to allow recharging at least one cell phone or other small electronic device resting on the holder

One disadvantage associated with cell phone holders intended to be located on a desk or a shelf is the desk area they occupy. Another disadvantage is that when the phone requires recharging, a cord should be extended between a wall outlet and the phone or to the holder.

The presence of wires on or around the desk is uncomfortable. Furthermore, since wall outlets are not always available adjacent furniture items, electrical cords may quite uncomfortably be found across passages between walls and couches or tables where users very commonly opt to recharge their cell phones.

US D560.115 discloses an electrical outlet appliance holder, configured to be suspended from a wall charger similarly to the way a "Do Not Disturb" sign is configured to be suspended from a door knob.

One disadvantage of the holder of US D560.115 is that it can unintentionally slip to the floor during removal of the wall charger from a wall outlet. Another disadvantage is that the phone is positioned on the holder's flap supine and unsecured.

These and other problems which will become more apparent through the following disclosure are the objects with which the present invention is aimed to comply. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first broad aspect the present invention relates to a mobile device holder especially useful for small electronic mobile devices such as a cell phone. For the purpose of exemplifying the invention and with no intention to restrict its scope, a mobile device will be referred to hereinafter also as a 'cell phone'. The cell phone holder is having a holder member, which preferably comprises a receptacle or a mechanical connector (e.g. of the type used in cars for securing cell phones to the dashboard) capable of holding a cell phone in an upright orientation, and a stem member configured to be connected to a wall charger for holding the cell phone in upright orientation from above the wall charger when the wall charger is connected to a wall outlet of a domestic AC network.

In a first preferred embodiment the cell phone holder according to the present invention, comprises a receptacle, a connector a clasping means or a cradle (all of which will be referred to hereinafter in the term 'receptacle') for holding a cell phone wherein said receptacle is configured to be removably attachable to a wall charger, thereby utilizing the charger as a means for holding the cell phone adjacent an AC wall outlet in vertical orientation from above the charger. The receptacle is connected to a stand constituting a support to the receptacle and having connecting arrangement for removably attaching the wall charger of the cell phone, thus allowing for positioning the cell phone nearby a wall outlet to which the wall charger is plugged. The holder according to the invention can therefore be used as a removable non invasive wall stand for mobile devices such as cell phones.

According to various designs of the preferred embodiment the phone receptacle comprises a surrounding wall which comprises an upright slot (hereinafter will be referred to also as "the upright wall slot") crossing it from top to bottom in at least one location along its circumference, thereby allowing for placement or removal of the cell phone with a charger DC cable plugged to its bottom. According to some of these designs the receptacle further comprises an opening in its bottom (hereinafter will be referred to also as "the bottom opening") constituting a continuation of the upright wall slot thereby allowing for placing the phone inside the receptacle with its charger DC cable plugged to its bottom, wherein the bottom of the cell phone is in contact with the bottom of the receptacle whilst the plug of the charger DC cable protrudes downwardly emerging from the receptacle's bottom through the bottom opening. According to various preferred embodiments the clasping arrangement is a rigid body having an opening configured to snugly receive a certain portion of the charger wall plug (i.e. the AC plug). According to yet further various preferred embodiments the connecting arrangement comprises at least one elastic member configured to provide for instant adaptation and attachment of the cell phone holder to the particular dimensions of the wall charger to which it is to be attached. According to some embodiments the connecting arrangement comprises at least one adjusting screw , thereby allowing for accurate adaptation of the mobile device holder to wall chargers of different designs and dimensions.

According to some preferred embodiments the connecting arrangement is configured to be mountable on the wall charger even when it is already plugged to a wall outlet. This may be designed e.g. by providing a clasp in a shape of open ring thereby allowing to push it onto the AC plug of the charger in lateral direction, i.e. parallel to the wall.

According to some other preferred embodiments the connecting arrangement comprises holes for insertion over the prongs of the AC plug of the charger. According to this embodiment the thickness of the clasp in its portion having the holes through which the prongs are inserted is preferably no more than 1 or 2 millimeters, therefore the AC plug may be plugged into the wall outlet almost in full (i.e. with a separation of only 1 or 2 millimeters from the wall outlet). Some of the clasp embodiments having holes for the prongs of the charger's AC plug, may further comprise a protrusion either elastic or substantially rigid for clasping the holder to the plug additionally to the attachment which has already been established by the insertion of the clasp through the prongs.

According to various preferred embodiments of the present invention the holder is further comprising a bottom part configured for positioning on a flat surface, thereby allowing for utilizing the holder as a table stand for the mobile device in addition to its use as a wall attachable stand.

In a second broad aspect the present invention relates to a cell phone holder characterized by a universal connecting arrangement configured to provide for a rigid connection between the holder and an electrical wall charger having either a US 115VAC conventional electrical plug or a European 230VAC conventional electrical plug, thereby allowing for positioning a cell phone in a receptacle located from above the wall charger and being stably and immovably supported to its AC plug area through a vertical stem, independently of the specific type of the AC plug. By having the universal connecting arrangement, the invention complies with the non unity of AC plug standards, and allows for distributing cell generic phone holders suitable for most of the large variety of sell phone wall chargers currently available in the global market. This may be furthermore enhanced by the design and dimensions of the receptacle, which will hereinafter be described in detail, allowing for using any particular design of generic holder according to the invention not only with a variety of wall chargers but with most of the vast variety of cell phone designs as well.

Preferably the universal connecting arrangement according to the invention comprises a body having an opening for receiving a portion of a cell phone's wall charger, said opening being formed in the body between at lease one pair of facing pressure surfaces with a gap in between configured to snugly grasp said portion of the wall charger between the surfaces thereby connecting the cell phone holder to the wall charger. In A first prefer embodiment the gap between the facing surfaces is about 14 millimeters wide, thus useful for snugly receiving a width of the prong housing protrusion normally existing in a conventional 230VAC wall charger plug. In a least preferred embodiment the gap between the facing surfaces is about 38 millimeters thus useful for snugly receiving a length of the prong housing protrusion normally existing in a conventional 230VAC wall charger plug. The connecting arrangement may further comprise mechanical adapter comprising a pair of conventional 115VAC electrical plug prongs in electrical communication with a respective pair of 115VAC electrical outlet terminals, wherein said prongs and terminals are housed within an adapter body having a prong housing protrusion configured to be snugly held in the gap between the pressure surfaces, thereby allowing 115VAC plug of a wall charger lacking a prong housing protrusion to be connected to the cell phone holder for stably supporting a cell phone in a receptacle from above the wall charger.

In a non generic embodiment of the invention especially adapted to a specific country having its specific predetermined AC plug standard, e.g. a U.S. standard 115VAC plug, the invention may comprise the mechanical adapter irremovably embedded into the body of the cell phone holder, as the connecting means for connecting the cell phone holder to the wall charger for stably supporting the cell phone in a receptacle from above the charger. According to this non generic embodiment the cell phone holder may comprise additional AC outlets in electrical communication with the prongs of the mechanical adapter, thereby allowing to connect additional electrical appliances to the same wall outlet's AC source to which the cell phone holder is currently connected.

The invention thus allows for having cell phones presented vertically from above their wall charger during being charged, displayed to their user in a pleasing and protected manner, with their width parallel to the wall thus minimizing projections from the wall.

Detailed description of the invention

The invention will be further described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. These in no manner intend to limit the scope of protection as will be defined by the claims of this patent or any subsequent filing thereof.

Brief description of the Figs

Figure 1 illustrates in a side view one preferred embodiment of the cell phone holder according to the present invention in operation, mounted on a wall charger and accommodating a cell phone.

Figure 2 illustrates in a front view the embodiment of the cell phone holder of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 illustrates in a top view the embodiment of the cell phone holder of Figs. 1 and 2, but with the cell phone out of the holder ready for placement.

Figures 4A - 4B illustrate in a side view another preferred embodiment of the cell phone holder according to the present invention, taken apart, with the clasp in Fig. 4A and the receptacle in Fig. 4B.

Fig. 4C illustrates a wall charger of a known type, to be used with the cell phone holder embodiment of Figs 4A -4B.

Fig. 5A illustrates a preferred embodiment of a generic cell phone holder useful for use with a large variety of currently available wall charges and cell phone types. Fig. 5B illustrates in a perspective view a wall charger of a known type, to be used with the cell phone holder embodiments of Figs 1 - 3, 5A, 8 or 9.

Fig. 5C illustrates a perspective view of a mechanical adapter according to the present invention useful for adapting the cell phone holder of Fig. 5A for the use of wall chargers lacking a prong housing protrusion.

Fig. 6 illustrates a top view of the generic cell phone holder of Fig. 5A.

Fig. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a cell phone holder having an integral AC outlet adapted for receiving an AC plug of specific standard, as its connecting arrangement with wall chargers having AC plugs of such specific standard.

Fig. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a cell phone holder having an integral AC outlet adapted for receiving an AC plug of specific standard, as its connecting arrangement with wall chargers having AC plugs of such specific standard, and further having additional AC outlets allowing to connect additional electrical appliances to the same wall outlet energizing the wall charger.

Detailed description of the figures:

Figure 1 illustrates in a side view one preferred embodiment of a cell phone holder (1 ) according to the present invention. The cell phone holder (1) is shown in position, mounted on a wall charger (101) and accommodating a cell phone (100). The parts of the invented device (1 ) are illustrated in bold regular lines, while the parts of the cell phone and of the wall charger are illustrated in a dotted line. The wall charger (101) comprises a pair of prongs (104) (only one is seen due to the side view perspective in this Fig). The prongs (104) are protruding from an AC plug portion (105) which is narrower than the main body of the charger (101). This narrower plug portion (105) is termed in this specification "prong housing protrusion", and is commonly existing in wall chargers intended for use in 230 VAC wall outlets. The prong housing protrusion (105) is utilized as an infrastructure to which the cell phone holder of the present embodiment may be connected. The connection is by a clasp (3) having upper and lower pressure surfaces pressing on the prong housing protrusion (105) located in between. In case the clasp is formed as a closed ring it can be inserted onto the body of the prong housing protrusion (105) before plugging the charger into a wall outlet. In the presented embodiment however, the clasp is (3) in formed as an open ring (see Fig. 2) thus may be mounted on or removed from the prong housing protrusion (105) even when it is already plugged to the wall. The wall outlet is not shown in the Fig., however it can easily be imagined how the Prong housing protrusion (105) is connected to the wall outlet with the cell phone holder mounted and with a cell phone accommodated from above the charger.

A stem (4) protrudes from the upper portion of the clasp (3). The stand (4) may be formed either as an integral part or as a mutually connectable part of the clasp (3). A receptacle (2) is connected to the stem (4). The stem (4) may be formed either as an integral part or as a mutually connectable part of the receptacle (2).

The cell phone holder (2) is illustrated with an exemplary cell phone (100) held in the receptacle (2). The bottom of the cell phone (100) is in contact with the floor (6) of the receptacle (2). This is achieved even though a DC plug (103) of the wall charger (101) is plugged to the cell phone thus emerging from its bottom, due to a bottom opening (7) (not shown in Fig. 1 but clearly depicted by Fig. 3) through which the DC plug may pass. The bottom opening is formed narrower than a cell phone may be dimensioned, thus the cell phone may not slip through the bottom opening (7). The bottom opening (7) constitutes an extension to an upright wall slot (5) which allows placement and removal of the cell phone from the receptacle with no need to unplug the DC plug from the cell phone. It is only required to catch the phone and pull it upwardly out of the receptacle, than moving it laterally to the left for freeing the DC cord (102) through the upright wall slot (5) out of the holder (1). Once the cell phone and the DC cord are freed from the receptacle (2), the wall plug may be thought of as a conventional charger and may be used conventionally, regardless whether or not the cell phone holder is still mounted. In case the user whishes to return the cell phone (100) to be held by the holder (2), he may reverse said steps, i.e. letting the DC cord enter the upright wall slot (5) with the cell phone in position from above the receptacle (2), then lowering the cell phone (100) downwardly until the DC plug emerges through the bottom opening (7) from below the receptacle (2) and the bottom of the cell phone (100) may rest on the floor (6) of the receptacle (2). It is appreciable that the cell phone holder may be used just for holding a cell phone without charging, i.e. with the DC plug unplugged.

It should be noted that neither the upright wall slot (5) nor the bottom opening (7) are essentially required for implementation of the present invention, which can serve without these either cell phones having upper DC jack, or cell phones having a bottom DC jack, once positioned in an inverted orientation. Further adaptations can be made in this invented cell phone holder without departing from the scope of the present invention, e.g. providing it with a door in its surrounding wall, or providing it with a hole or holes in its bottom wall (floor), as alternatives for the slots (5) and (7). In case holes are provided in its bottom, the charger's DC plug may be inserted through such hole, or a protruding portion of an RF antenna of the phone may pass through, in case one wishes to charge it in an upside down positioning within the receptacle.

The cell phone holder may further comprise a demo DC socket for holding the DC plug when not in charge. Furthermore the cell phone holder may further have means such as protrusions or rims in order to allow folding or gathering the DC cable or a certain portion thereof which becomes surplus when the cell phone is located so close to the charger for charging, as occur through the use of the device according to the present invention. It can be appreciated that the bottom surface of the charger (101) may allow for positioning the holder with the cell phone accommodated inside it, on a flat surface. The holder may thus be utilized as a table stand for the cell phone in addition to its role as a wall stand. The AC prongs (104) of the charger may be utilized as a support when the holder and the charger are slightly tilted backwards, thus allowing to use the holder in an angled position on the table. The clasp (3) may optionally comprise at least one extension or leg extending from below the charger (101) and/or to the sides for enhancing the stability of the holder in its utilization as a table stand.

Figure 2 illustrates in a front view the embodiment of the cell phone holder of Fig. 1. In this figure it becomes visible how the clasp (3) is caught to the prong housing protrusion (105) of the charger. The clasp (3) has an opened shape (in this embodiment it is opened to the right side) with a substantially planar top portion (3b) the bottom face of which constitutes a pressure surface pressing on the upper surface of the prong housing protrusion (105), and ending with a downwardly oriented protrusion (3c) configured to block the clasp from moving left during normal use. The clasp (3) further has a flexible bottom portion (3a) the upper face of which constitutes a pressure surface acting as a leaf spring for pressing on the prong housing protrusion (105) from below. The receptacle (2) is connected to the upper portion of the clasp (3b) through a stem (4). .

The clasp may be removed from the prong housing protrusion (105) by forcing it to the left, or returned by positioning it from the left side of the prong housing protrusion(105) and pressing it to the right. These removal and placement operation can be performed even when the AC plug is connected to a wall due to the opening in the clasp which allows for moving it laterally. In case the clasp is formed close it can be mounted to or removed from the prang housing protrusion by respective insertion or removal in a direction perpendicular to the wall, which is applicable whenever the charger is unplugged from the wall outlet.

Figure 3 illustrates in a top view the embodiment of the cell phone holder (1) of Figs. 1 and 2, but with the cell phone (100) out of the holder ready for placement. In this figure the upright wall slot (5) and the bottom opening (7) which is formed in the bottom wall (6) of the receptacle are clearly visible. The cell phone (100) is shown to the left before placing it in the holder (1). For making it charged the DC plug (103) should be first plugged to the DC socket (106) of the cell phone (100). The cell phone (100) may then inserted into the receptacle (2) either simply upside down or by letting the DC cord (102) enter the receptacle through the upright wall slot (5) by moving the phone in the direction of the arrow (50) then lowering the phone until its bottom rests on the floor (6) of the receptacle (2) with the DC plug (103) emerging downwardly through the bottom opening (7). It can be appreciated that when the AC prongs (104) are plugged to a wall outlet, the cell phone holder with the phone inside it and its backside parallel to the wall will be positioned within one or two centimeters from the wall, thus they will not occupy much more room than is conventionally occupied by the wall charger itself.

Figures 4A - 4B illustrate in a side view another preferred embodiment (10) of the cell phone holder according to the present invention, taken apart, with the clasp (13) shown in Fig. 4A and the receptacle (2) in Fig. 4B. Fig. 4C illustrates a wall charger (111) for use with the cell phone holder embodiment (10) of Figs 4A -4B. The connection between the receptacle and the clasp in this embodiment is by snap connection between the protrusions (8) and the recesses (9) formed in the stem (14) and in the backside of the receptacle (2), respectively. The main difference between this embodiment and that of figs 1 - 3 is in the design of the clasp (13). This clasp is mainly caught to the wall charger (111) by inserting a pair of holes (13b) (only one is shown in the side cross sectional view of this Fig.) formed in a back portion of the clasp (13) onto the respective pair of AC prongs (114) of the charger (111) by moving the clasp (13) to the charger (111) in the direction illustrated by the arrow (51). A similar catch may be achieved by providing a single hole dimensioned for encompassing the two prongs. The clasp further comprises an upper portion (13b) to which the stem (14) is connected, and which is configured for resting on the top surface of the wall charger (111). The clasp may further comprise a bottom portion (13a) having a curved shape in order to allow for easily mounting the clasp (13) to the charger (111) and in order to automatically adapt itself to the dimensions of the charger body while exerting slight pressure on its bottom wall. The lower ends of the curvature of the bottom portion may be used for positioning the holder on flat surfaces. Alternatively, the bottom of the clasp (13b) may be provided with legs or with a base portion designed in a contour allowing for enhancing its stability when positioning the holder on a flat surface such as a table or a shelf, thereby allowing for utilizing the holder as a table stand for mobile devices, in addition to its role as a removable wall stand for mobile devices. It may be the user's choice whether or not to separate the wall charger from the holder when using it as a table stand. It should be noticed that in case the wall charger is not separated from the holder when using as a table stand, the weight of the wall charger may be useful for improving the stability of the holder on the table. The weight of its DC cord may be utilized for the same purpose as well, by gathering or rolling it either with the help of cable gathering or rolling means which the holder may be provided with, or by simply gathering or rolling and placing the cord e.g. in the gap between the wall charger (100) or (111) and the receptacle (2).

The invention is not limited to a clasp or any similar rigid connection as a means for removably connecting between the cell phone holder and the wall outlet. The connection arrangement may also be a belt fastener enfolding the body of the charger, or any other acceptable connecting means configured to secure the holder to the wall charger with the receptacle stably positioned from above the charger.

It is appreciated that since most of the wall chargers of cell phone in the global market share similar design features, any of the clasping arrangement designs disclosed in the specification of the present invention can make the cell phone holder of the present invention universal, i.e. adapted for use with wall chargers of various cell phone types. The cell phone holder of the present invention may be formed from a variety of materials, including but not limited to plastic cast, wood, paper card, sheets of polymeric material or combinations thereof.

Fig. 5A illustrates a preferred embodiment of a generic cell phone holder (20) according to the present invention useful for use with a large variety of currently available wall charges and cell phone types. The generic cell phone holder (20) comprises as a holder member a receptacle delimited by a back wall member (31), side wall members (22c), and left and right front wall members (22a) and (22b) respectively, constituting a substantially vertical surrounding wall, and by a bottom wall (26). The bottom wall (26) has an opening (27) allowing a cell phone with a DC plug attached at its bottom to be placed in the receptacle with the DC plug and a DC cord emerging through the opening (27) while certain parts of the bottom of the cell phone resting on the bottom wall (26). The opening (27) is merging with a vertical slot (25) created between the left and right front wall members (22a) and (22b), thus allowing to pick the cell phone out of the holder (20) without disconnecting it from the DC plug. The gap (25) between the left and right front wall members (22a) and (22b) and the distance between these and the back wall member (31) are dimensioned such that most of the cell phones for which the holder is intended shall not slip and fall through the gap (25) even if maneuvered or pivoted within the receptacle.

The preferred inner dimensions of the receptacle between the wall members which can make it compatible with most of currently available cell phone types and brands, i.e. holding them vertically without letting them escape through the vertical slot (25), are as follows: about 58 millimeters in length, about 30 millimeters in width, about 14 millimeters gap between the front wall members (22a) and (22b) and between 17-18 millimeters radius of a semi circular opening (27) in the bottom plate (26) have been tested and found satisfying for many types of cell phones of various shapes and dimensions and various locations of cell phone bottom plug connections.

In the illustrated embodiment the front wall members (22a) and (22b) are cut diagonally at their upper end thus making the vertical slot (25) expanding as it goes up forming a ¹V or a Υ¹ shape, thus allowing the display screen of most cell phone type be visible to the user through the slot. The height of the lower non diagonal portion of the slot is about 40 millimeters from above the bottom (26) of the receptacle. The receptacle is supported to a wall charger through a stem portion (24) having an opening (23) as a connecting arrangement with a prong housing protrusion conventionally existing in AC plugs of 230VAC wall chargers. The opening (23) has upper and lower surfaces (23a) and (23b), respectively, configured for sandwiching the prong housing protrusion of the wall charger and pressing its top and bottom when snugly inserted through the opening (23). Normally, the prong housing protrusion which is made of cast plastics, has some invisible tapering (form to facilitate its removal from its manufacturing molds after casting) , and further has some natural flexibility, which allow satisfactorily strong and stable connection between the cell phone holder and the charger, while simultaneously allowing a facile removal of the connection. The invention thus allows a designer to take advantage of said invisible attributes of the wall charger in order to facilitate the design of the cell phone holder.

Preferably, the opening (23) is formed not quiet perpendicularly across the stem (24), rather having a deviation angle preferably of between 8 - 12 degrees from the perpendicular, such that the front side of the opening (23) facing the user is made lower than the opening's exit towards its backside, thereby compensating against typical downward inclination of the wall charger about the wall outlet after plugging. Such inclination is normally experienced when connecting somewhat heavy devices such as transformers to a wall outlet. Alternatively, the receptacle walls can be designed with inclination towards the back such that in case the cell phone weight forces the wall charger downwards, the cell phone will maintain a pleasant upright orientation.

Fig. 5B illustrates in a perspective view a wall charger (101) of a known type, to be used with the cell phone holder embodiments of Figs 1 - 3, 5A, 8 or 9. The wall charger (101) has prongs (104) projecting from a prong housing protrusion (105) having conventional design and substantially known dimensions. The prong housing protrusion (105) is utilized for mounting the cell phone holder of the present invention, e.g. the one illustrated in Fig. 5A, by inserting the prong housing protrusion (105) into the opening (23) formed in a lower end of the stem (24). The stem (24) is preferably of a length allowing sufficient room for the DC plug (103), in the gap formed between the top of the charger housing and (101) and the bottom of the receptacle (26), when the DC plug (103) is plugged into the bottom of the cell phone. For most cell phone and their wall charger combinations a stem (24) having a length of about 50 millimeters between the top of the opening (23) and the bottom of the receptacle (26) is found satisfying. Fig. 5C illustrates a perspective view of a mechanical adapter (30) according to the present invention useful for adapting the cell phone holder of Fig. 5A for the use of wall chargers lacking a prong housing protrusion. The mechanical adapter according to the invention is provided with a housing (35) having dimensions similar to those of prong housing protrusions (105) existing in conventional wall chargers such as (101), thus matching the opening (23) formed in the lower end of the stem (24) of the cell phone holder (20). The mechanical adapter (30) is further comprising AC outlet terminals (33) for receiving the electrical prongs (114) of a wall charger such as illustrated in Fig. 4B, and prongs (34) in electrical communication with the AC outlet terminals (34). The prongs (34) are of a prong standard similar to the standard of the prongs receivable by the AC outlet terminals (33). Accordingly, the mechanical adapter (30) is useful for providing a wall charger lacking a conventional prong housing protrusion (105), with the conventional shape required for connecting it to the cell phone holder (20).

Accordingly, a kit comprising the cell phone holder (20) and the mechanical adapter (30) can by utilized as a cell phone holder for a vast variety of cell phones currently existing in the global market.

The mechanical adapter (30) is preferably provided with a front panel (36) wider than the housing (35) thus providing a rim around the hosing (35) useful for enhancing and stabilizing its connection with the cell phone holder and further made sufficiently wide to prevent plugging-in a single prong only of electrical plug into the AC outlet terminals (33).

The invention relates also to a mechanical adapter having non conductive prongs and lacking AC outlet terminals, allowing to connect the cell phone holder to an AC wall outlet without electrical connection, thus enjoying the holder without requiring the charger to be connected to the AC network.

Fig. 6 illustrates a top view of the generic cell phone holder of Fig. 5A. The bottom (26) of the receptacle has a substantially semi circular opening of a diameter of about 35 millimeters. A strip about 10 millimeter wide in the back of the bottom (26) adjacent the rear wall member (31) is uninterrupted by the opening. This shape of the receptacles bottom has been found useful for many cell phone types, in terms of allowing satisfactory passage through the receptacle's floor for cell phone connectors plugged to its bottom, while simultaneously providing sufficient floor area for holding the cell phone in an upright pleasant appearance.

Fig. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a cell phone holder (40) having an integral AC outlet terminals (43) adapted for receiving an AC plug of a specific standard, as a connecting arrangement of the cell phone holder with wall chargers having AC plugs of such specific standard. The AC outlet terminals (43) are in electrical communication with plug prongs (34) of the same standard, protruding from a backside of the holder.

Fig. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a cell phone holder (50) having an integral AC outlet adapted for receiving an AC plug of specific standard, as its connecting arrangement with wall chargers having AC plugs of such specific standard, and further having additional AC outlets allowing to connect additional electrical appliances to the same wall outlet energizing the wall charger. A wall charger may be connected to any of the plurality of AC outlets (53), all of which being in electrical communication with plug prongs (34) of the same specific standard, protruding from an integral connection box (55) integrated to a back side of the cell phone holder (50). In a variation of the illustrated embodiment one or two additional receptacles may be provided in order to allow for holding and charging respective number of cell phones.

The shape of the outlet holes and of the plug prongs shown in Figs 5C, 7 and 8, are explanatory, with no intention to limit the respective embodiments of the invention to any particular electrical connection standard.

It can be appreciated that the embodiments disclosed in Figs. 5C, 7 and 8, have the advantage they allow the cell phone holder to be connected to a wall for holding a cell phone independently of the presence of the cell phone's wall charger.

It is also may be appreciated that one can add On-Off switches in these embodiments, for controlling the electrical circuit of any of the integral AC outlets (33) (43) or (53).

It should further be appreciated that positions of the integral AC outlets (33) (43) or (53)in the front of the cell phone holders is not mandatory, and e.g. one can opt to design the cell phone holder (40) with the AC outlet (43) facing downwardly from the bottom of the stem (44).

Claims

Claims:

1. A cell phone holder comprising a holder member for holding the cell phone, a stem member protruding from below the holder member and having in a lower portion thereof a connecting arrangement for connecting the holder member to a cell phone wall charger, thereby allowing to hold a cell phone from above the wall charger with the wall charger being connected to a wall outlet.

2. A cell phone holder according to claim 1 , wherein the holder member comprises a receptacle having substantially vertical surrounding wall.

3. A cell phone holder according to claim 2, wherein the surrounding wall is configured to hold the cell phone in substantially vertical orientation.

4. A cell phone holder according to claim 3, wherein the surrounding wall has opening in a front portion thereof allowing a display screen of the cell phone to be visible to a user.

5. A cell phone holder according to claim any one of claims 2 - 4, wherein the receptacle has an opening in its bottom, said opening merges with a vertical slot formed in the surrounding wall, thereby allowing removal and return of the cell phone from the receptacle with a DC cable and plug of the wall charger plugged to a bottom of the cell phone.

6. A cell phone holder according to claim any one of the preceding claims, wherein the connecting arrangement comprises an opening configured to snugly receive a prong housing protrusion of a wall charger for supporting the cell phone from above the charger.

7. A cell phone holder according to claim any one of claims 1 - 6, wherein the connecting arrangement comprises an integral AC outlet terminals adapted for receiving an AC plug of a specific predetermined standard for electrical connections, the AC outlet terminals are in electrical communication with plug prongs of the same standard, protruding from a backside of the holder.

8. A cell phone holder according to claim 7, further comprising additional AC outlets allowing for connecting additional electrical appliances to the same wall outlet energizing the wall charger.

9. A cell phone holder according to claim 6, wherein a front side of the opening is made lower than the opening's exit towards its backside, thereby compensating against typical downward inclination of the wall charger about the wall outlet after plugging.

10. Mechanical adapter for use with a cell phone holder according to claim 6, characterized by a housing matching the opening in the connecting arrangement of the cell phone holder, and having prongs matching a domestic AC outlet, thereby allowing to connecting the cell phone holder to a wall outlet.

11. Mechanical adapter for use with a cell phone holder according to claim 10, wherein the prongs are of a predetermined standard of electrical connections and are in electrical communication with outlet terminals of the same predetermined standard, formed in the housing for receiving plug prongs of a wall charger.

12. A cell phone holder according to the description and the drawings.

13. Mechanical adapter according to the description and the drawings.