Windshield mount for personal electronic device
AssigneeMacneil IP LLC
InventorDavid S. Iverson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A windshield mount for a personal electronic device has a first support plate that pivots relative to a base and a second support plate that stays in the same plane but slides to fit the width of the device. Using one hand, the user pinches opposed finger tabs to snap the mount to an open configuration. To install the device in the mount after it has been affixed to a vehicle windshield, the user need use only one hand to press the back of the device against the pivoting support plate, snapping the mount back to a closed configuration.
Claims19
A mount for a personal electronic device, the mount configurable to assume an open configuration in which the device may be removed from the mount in a predetermined first direction, and further configurable to assume a closed configuration in which the device may not be removed from the mount in the first direction, the mount comprising:
- a base, a first finger tab affixed to and laterally outwardly extending from the base;
- and
- a holding element hinged to the base, a second finger tab outwardly extending from the holding element, the second finger tab spaced from the first finger tab by a first distance when the mount is in the closed configuration, the second finger tab positioned to be closer than the first distance to the first finger tab when the mount is in the open configuration, such that a user may pinch the second finger tab toward the first finger tab in order to reconfigure the mount from the closed configuration to the open configuration;
- wherein
- the holding element is comprised of a first jaw having a first support plate for supporting a back surface of the personal electronic device, a first channel side plate rearwardly extending from the first support plate and a lip rearwardly spaced from the first support plate and inwardly extending from the first channel side plate, the second finger tab extending laterally outwardly from the first channel side plate, wherein in the closed configuration the first support plate, the first channel side plate and the lip are disposed to cage a lateral side of the personal electronic device.
A mount for a personal electronic device, the mount configurable to assume an open configuration in which the device may be removed from the mount in a predetermined first direction, and further configurable to assume a closed configuration in which the device may not be removed from the mount in the first direction, the mount comprising:
- a base;
- a first support plate hinged to the base at an axis and operable to support the device, a tab of the first support plate extending at an angle to the axis, the first support plate substantially occupying a first plane when the mount is in the closed configuration, the first support plate substantially occupying a second plane disposed at an angle to the first plane when the mount is an open configuration, the tab operable to contact a back surface of the device, a predetermined force exerted by a user through the back surface of the device on the tab in a third direction opposite from the first direction causing the first support plate to pivot from the second plane to the first plane, thereby causing the mount to be reconfigured from the open configuration to the closed configuration.
A method for mounting a personal electronic device to a surface, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a mount for a personal electronic device that has a closed configuration in which the device may not be removed from the mount in a predetermined first direction away from the surface, and an open configuration in which the device may be removed from the mount in the first direction, the mount further having a base and an attachment arm with a first end fastened to the base and a second end remote from the first end for fastening to the surface;
- either receiving the mount as preconfigured into the closed configuration, or configuring the mount to the closed configuration;
- placing the device on a first support plate of the mount and on a second support plate of the mount;
- sliding the second support plate in a first plane relative to the base, so that a channel rearwardly extending from the second support plate cages a second lateral side of the device and so that a channel rearwardly extending from the first support plate cages a first lateral side of the device spaced from the second lateral side;
- removing the device from the mount;
- affixing the second end of the attachment arm to the surface;
- pivoting the first support plate relative to the base such that the first support plate substantially is aligned to a second plane that is tilted relative to the first plane;
- moving the device in a third direction opposite the first direction until a back surface of the device contacts the first support plate;
- further moving the device in the third direction after the back of the device contacts the first support plate, thereby pivoting the first support plate back from the second plane to the first plane;
- and
- responsive to said step of further moving, caging the first lateral side of the device within the first channel, to thereby hold the electronic device in the mount and prohibit the device's removal from the mount in the first direction.
A method of removing a personal electronic device from a mount which has been affixed to a surface, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a mount in which a back surface of the personal electronic device is supported by a first support plate and by a second support plate initially disposed to be coplanar with the first support plate in a first plane, the first and second support plates joined to a base of the mount, the first support plate forming part of a channel for caging a first lateral side of the personal electronic device, the channel further comprised of a side plate rearwardly extending from an end of the first support plate to an end of the side plate and a lip extending from the end of the side plate to an inner lip end;
- mounting the device to the surface using the mount;
- pinching a first finger tab which extends laterally outwardly relative to the first support plate towards a second finger tab which extends laterally outwardly from the base;
- responsive to the step of pinching, rotating the first support plate from the first plane to a second plane disposed at an angle to the first plane;
- responsive to the step of rotating, uncaging the first lateral side of the device from the channel, to thereby permit the device's removal in a first direction orthogonal to the first plane;
- and
- removing the device from the mount in the first direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.