Retainer

Abstract

To provide a retainer capable of stably holding an object to be held and capable of inhibiting interference with another member.SOLUTION: When a tilt part 12 is tilted along a protruding / receding slide direction, a sandwiching direction and the protruding / receding slide direction are orthogonal to each other, and the tilt part is housed in a retainer body 20. Thus, a sandwiching part can be restrained from interfering with another member (panel part), because an extension direction or a juxtaposition direction corresponds with the protruding / receding slide direction, even when an extension-direction dimension of the sandwiching part is increased or the sandwiching parts are each juxtaposed to abut in a plurality of locations, so as to stably hold a smartphone 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a retaining device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a mobile device holder for installing a mobile device such as a smartphone in a vehicle has been proposed as a holding device for holding an object to be held (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The conventional mobile device holder described in Patent Document 1 includes an attachment part that is attached to the dashboard, an arm part that extends from the attachment part, and a holding part that is provided at the tip of the arm part and holds the mobile device, and the orientation of the mobile device can be changed by rotating the holding part. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-256240 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the mobile device holder described in Patent Document 1 is always exposed, and cannot be stored even when the mobile device is not held. Therefore, the appearance of the object to which it is attached (the vehicle interior space) may be deteriorated. Therefore, a configuration in which the mobile device holder is stored in a housing or the like when the mobile device is not held may be considered.

[0005] In the portable device holder described in Patent Document 1, in order to stably hold a portable device by a holding part having a pair of clamping arms, it is preferable to increase the contact area between the clamping arms and the edge of the portable device, or to have the clamping arms abut the edge of the portable device at multiple points. In this case, the clamping arms tend to become large, and tend to interfere with other members when the portable device holder is stored in a housing or the like as described above. Thus, in a holding device that holds a held object, it is desired to suppress interference with other members while stably holding the object.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is, for example, to provide a holding device that can stably hold an object to be held and can suppress interference with other members. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the holding device of the present invention described in claim 1 is a holding device comprising a holding mechanism for holding an object to be held, and an apparatus main body for attaching the holding mechanism to an attachment target, wherein the holding mechanism comprises a slide section supported on the apparatus main body so as to be freely slidable in and out of the device, and a tilt section supported on the slide section so as to be able to change the standing angle, wherein the tilt section has a pair of clamping sections which are biased towards each other to clamp the object to be held, and when tilted along the protruding and retracting sliding direction, the clamping direction and the protruding and retracting sliding direction are perpendicular to each other, and the tilt section is stored in the apparatus main body. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a front view showing a holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which an object to be held is held by the holding device. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the holding device. [Figure 4] 5A to 5C are perspective views showing the operation of the holding device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a front view showing a holding mechanism of the holding device. [Figure 6] 13 is a front view showing a state in which a holding portion of the holding mechanism is rotated. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. A holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a holding device including a holding mechanism for holding an object to be held, and an apparatus main body for attaching the holding mechanism to an attachment target. The holding mechanism includes a slide section supported on the apparatus main body so as to be freely slidable in and out of the device, and a tilt section supported on the slide section so as to be able to change the standing angle. The tilt section has a pair of clamping sections that are biased toward each other to clamp the object to be held, and when the tilt section is tilted along the protruding and retracting sliding direction, the clamping direction and the protruding and retracting sliding direction are perpendicular to each other, and the tilt section is stored in the apparatus main body.

[0010] When the tilt section is tilted along the protruding / retracting sliding direction, the clamping direction and the protruding / retracting sliding direction are perpendicular to each other and are stored in the device body, so that when each of the pair of clamping sections is extended along the edge of the object to be held or when multiple clamping sections are arranged side by side so as to abut at multiple points, the extending direction or the juxtaposing direction coincides with the protruding / retracting sliding direction. Therefore, even if the extending dimension of the clamping sections is increased or the clamping sections are arranged side by side so as to abut at multiple points in order to stably hold the object to be held, interference between the clamping sections and other members can be suppressed.

[0011] In addition, since the pair of clamping parts are arranged as described above, the pair of clamping parts face each other horizontally in the tilt section immediately after it is raised (i.e., the held object is clamped from the horizontal direction). If the held object is formed in a rectangular shape and has a screen (display surface), it is easy to hold it by clamping the long side (i.e., the short side direction and the clamping direction are aligned), and clamping from the horizontal direction makes the screen portrait-oriented. A rectangular screen may display a portrait-oriented image, and by having the pair of clamping parts face each other horizontally in the tilt section immediately after it is raised, it is not necessary to rotate the held object when displaying a portrait-oriented image, improving convenience.

[0012] The tilt section preferably includes a holding section having a pair of clamping parts and a base section that rotatably supports the holding section, and is configured to be able to change the orientation of the held object. As a result, after the tilt section is raised, the holding section can be rotated so that the pair of clamping parts face each other in an appropriate direction (for example, the vertical direction) to clamp the held object. In addition, the holding section can be rotated so that the held object is oriented in an appropriate direction after clamping.

[0013] At least one of the pair of clamping parts preferably has a plurality of abutment parts that are slidably provided along the edge of the object to be held. This allows the abutment parts to slide in accordance with the dimensions of the object to be held, thereby enabling the object to be stably clamped.

[0014] The holding mechanism may hold a portable device as the held object, and the holding device may be provided on the instrument panel of the vehicle. The portable device referred to here is an electronic device carried by a user, and examples thereof include a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a game device, etc. EXAMPLES

[0015] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The holding device of this embodiment is an in-vehicle device that is mounted on an instrument panel at the driver's seat of a vehicle for use. The holding device of this embodiment holds a smartphone, which is an example of a portable device, as a held object to be held.

[0016] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a holding device 1 of this embodiment includes a holding mechanism 10 for a smartphone 5, and a rectangular box-shaped device main body 20 to be mounted on an instrument panel.

[0017] The holding mechanism 10 is held in the device body 20 so as to be freely protruding and retracting. The holding mechanism 10 includes a slide portion 11 supported in the device body 20 so as to be freely protruding and retracting, and a tilt portion 12 pivotally supported by the slide portion 11 to hold the smartphone 5. When the holding mechanism 10 holds the smartphone 5, the slide portion 11 is pulled out from the device body 20 in a protruding direction D111 in a protruding and retracting direction D11 shown in FIG. 3, and the tilt portion 12 is erected in an erecting direction D121 in a rotation direction D12 shown in FIG. 2. The tilt portion 12 has a base portion 3 and a holding portion 4 as described later, and is supported by the slide portion 11 so as to be able to change the erecting angle of the holding portion 4. The tilt portion 12 is configured to hold the smartphone 5 on the erected tilt portion 12.

[0018] The device body 20 includes an upper chassis 21 that forms an upper wall and a pair of side walls of the rectangular box-shaped device body 20, and a lower chassis 22 that forms a lower wall. The slide portion 11 of the holding mechanism 10 described above is supported on the upper wall of the upper chassis 21 so as to be freely protruding and retracting. A rectangular rear substrate 221 that forms the rear wall of the device body 20 is erected on one end side of the rear side of the rectangular box-shaped device body 20 in the lower chassis 22. The rear substrate 221 is equipped with various connectors for connecting with external devices, an antenna for short-range communication with the smartphone 5 in accordance with, for example, the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard, and the like. An inner substrate 222 electrically connected to the rear substrate 221 is attached to the inner surface of the lower chassis 22.

[0019] The device main body 20 also includes a detachable rectangular plate-shaped front panel section 23 that forms the front wall of the device main body 20 and plays the role of a user interface, and a panel section 24 that detachably and rotatably holds the front panel section 23. The panel section 24 is fixed to the upper chassis 21 and the lower chassis 22. The panel section 24 is formed in a shape that has a notch so as not to interfere with the holding mechanism 10 supported by the upper chassis 21. A pair of shaft protrusions 231 that form a rotation axis are provided on both ends of the front panel section 23 in the longitudinal direction, and the pair of shaft protrusions 231 are detachably and rotatably held by a pair of holding arms 241 in the panel section 24.

[0020] In the holding device 1 of this embodiment, the holding mechanism 10 supported by the upper chassis 21 and the panel unit 24 are each electrically connected to the inner substrate 222 of the lower chassis 22 by a cable 223. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, by performing a touch operation on the held smartphone 5 or a button operation on the front panel unit 23, it is possible to display map information on the screen of the smartphone 5, play music from an in-car audio device, and the like. In addition, the held smartphone 5 can be charged via the cable 223 connecting the holding mechanism 10 and the inner substrate 222 and a charging cable extending from the smartphone 5 and connected to the holding mechanism 10.

[0021] The smartphone 5 is held in the holding device 1 described above in the following procedure.

[0022] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a procedure for holding a smartphone in the holding device shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 3. In Fig. 4, only the upper chassis 21 of the device body 20 is shown for ease of viewing. The procedure described below is performed manually by the user.

[0023] First, in steps S11 and S12, the holding mechanism 10 is pulled out from the device body 20 in the protruding direction D111. At this time, in this embodiment, the front panel portion 23 is rotated around the shaft protrusion 231 shown in FIG. 3 as the rotation center and tilted forward or removed from the panel portion 24 so as not to interfere with the movement of the holding mechanism 10. In the holding mechanism 10, holding claws 421 and 431 described later face each other (i.e., are lined up) in a direction perpendicular to the pull-out direction (left-right direction, vehicle width direction). In other words, the holding mechanism 10 is stored in the device body 20 in a state where the clamping direction of the holding mechanism 10 and the protruding / retracting sliding direction of the sliding portion 11 are perpendicular to each other.

[0024] In the next step S13, in the holding mechanism 10, the tilt section 12 is erected in the standing direction D121 relative to the sliding section 11. At this time, the tilt section 12 includes a base section 3 pivotally supported by the sliding section 11 and a holding section 4 rotatably supported by the base section 3, and the chucking mechanism 46 is configured in the holding section 4 by a total of three holding claws 421, 431. In this embodiment, in the state in which the tilt section 12 is erected in this step S13, the chucking mechanism 46 is in a position in which one holding claw 431 is located on the right side and two holding claws 421 are located on the left side. In addition, in the chucking mechanism 46, the one holding claw 431 on the right side is spring-biased toward the two holding claws 421 on the left side.

[0025] Here, in this embodiment, in the tilt section 12, the holding section 4 having the chucking mechanism 46 is attached so as to be rotatable in a rotation direction D14 centered on a rotation axis O1 along a direction perpendicular to the surface of the screen of the smartphone 5. In step S14, the chucking mechanism 46 is rotated 90° counterclockwise in the drawing centered on the rotation axis O1. This rotation results in a posture in which one holding claw 431 is located on the upper side and two holding claws 421 are located on the lower side, and the holding claws 421 and 431 face each other in the vertical direction.

[0026] In step S15, the upper holding claw 431 of the chucking mechanism 46 is pulled up in the pulling direction D131 against the spring force.

[0027] Then, in step S16, the smartphone 5 is placed sideways (with its longitudinal direction facing horizontally) between the upper holding claw 431 and the lower holding claw 421 that have been pulled up as described above. When the user releases the upper holding claw 431, the upper holding claw 431 moves in the downward direction D132 due to the spring force described above. As a result, the smartphone 5 is sandwiched between the upper holding claw 431 and the lower holding claw 421.

[0028] Furthermore, after clamping the smartphone 5, if the user wants to view the display screen with the smartphone 5 in a vertical position (with its longitudinal direction facing up and down), the smartphone 5 can be oriented vertically by rotating the chucking mechanism 46 together with the smartphone 5 by 90° clockwise in the figure around the rotation axis O1.

[0029] In this embodiment, the user returns the front panel portion 23 at any timing after pulling out the holding mechanism 10. As a result, the appearance after holding the smartphone 5 becomes, for example, the appearance shown in Fig. 2. When the smartphone 5 is removed and the holding mechanism 10 is stored in the device body 20, the holding mechanism 10 is stored in the reverse order to the order shown in Fig. 4.

[0030] Here, the detailed shape of the holding part 4 will be described. In the following, the front-rear direction (travel direction) of the vehicle is defined as the X direction, the vehicle width direction (left-right direction) is defined as the Y direction, and the up-down direction is defined as the Z direction, and the holding device 1 holds the smartphone 5 facing backward in the X direction (i.e., so that the screen is aligned with the YZ plane). The short side direction of the rectangular smartphone 5 is defined as the width direction.

[0031] 5, the holding unit 4 has a rectangular holding plate 41 located on the back surface of the smartphone 5 and extending along the YZ plane, a fixed clamping portion 42 arranged on one side of the holding plate 41, a movable clamping portion 43 overlapping the back surface of the holding plate 41 and having a holding claw 431, and a biasing means for biasing the movable clamping portion 43 so as to approach the fixed clamping portion 42. indicates the state in which the holding claws 421, 431 are facing each other in the Z direction and are not holding the smartphone 5 (the state of step S14 above), and the dimensions and positional relationships of each part are based on this state unless otherwise specified.

[0032] The fixed clamping portion 42 is composed of two holding claws 421. The two holding claws 421 are arranged along the outer edge of the holding plate portion 41 and are slidably provided, and function as a contact portion that slides along the edge of the smartphone 5. The two holding claws 421 are slidable in the ranges A1 and A2, respectively, and are spaced apart by a predetermined distance from each other in the closest state, and are located at the corners of the holding plate portion 41 in the most distant state. The fixed clamping portion 42 is disposed at approximately the same height as (about the same height as or slightly higher than) the lower end 31 of the base portion 3 in the state shown in FIG. 5.

[0033] The rotation axis (rotation center) O1, on which the holding part 4 is supported by the base part 3, is disposed in the center of the rectangular plate-shaped base part 3 in the Y direction. The rotation axis O1 is disposed closer to the moving clamping part 43 than the fixed clamping part 42 in the clamping direction (Z direction) by the clamping parts 42 and 43. The rotation axis O1 is disposed in the center of the holding plate part 41 in the direction perpendicular to the clamping direction (Y direction). Here, half of the dimension of the holding plate part 41 in the perpendicular direction (i.e., the distance from the rotation axis O1 to the edge 411 of the holding plate part 41 in the Y direction) is L1, and the distance from the rotation axis O1 to the fixed clamping part 42 in the Z direction is L2. In this embodiment, the distance L2 is longer than the distance L1. The distance L2 is approximately half the width of the smartphone 5 having a predetermined dimension (for example, 5 inches) and approximately half the dimension of the base part 3 in the Y direction. That is, the Y-direction dimension of the base 3 is approximately equal to the width of the smartphone 5 having a predetermined dimension.

[0034] When the movable clamping portion 43 moves to clamp a smartphone 5 of a specified dimension using such a holding portion 4, the rotation axis O1 is positioned halfway between the fixed clamping portion 42 and the movable clamping portion 43, and the widthwise center of the smartphone 5 and the rotation axis O1 approximately coincide with each other.

[0035] 6 shows a state in which the holding portion 4 has been rotated approximately 90° from the state shown in Fig. 5 (the state of step S13 above). At this time, the fixed clamping portion 42 overlaps with the edge 32 on one side in the Y direction of the base 3. Furthermore, since the distance L2 is longer than the distance L1, the edge 411 of the holding plate portion 41 after rotation is positioned higher in the Z direction than the fixed clamping portion 42 before rotation.

[0036] 6, the distance L2 is approximately half the width of the smartphone 5, the rotation axis O1 is disposed in the center of the base 3 in the Y direction, and the fixed clamping part 42 overlaps the edge 32 of the base 3, so that when a smartphone 5 of a predetermined dimension is clamped, the movable clamping part 43 overlaps the edge 33 on the other side, and the centers of the smartphone 5 and the base 3 in the Y direction approximately coincide with each other. In addition, the edges of both sides in the Y direction of the smartphone 5 and the base 3 of the predetermined dimension are aligned with each other.

[0037] With the above configuration, when the tilt unit 12 is tilted along the protruding and retracting sliding direction, the clamping direction and the protruding and retracting sliding direction are perpendicular to each other and the tilt unit 12 is stored in the device body 20. Therefore, even if the extending dimension of the clamping units 42 and 43 is increased or the clamping units 42 and 43 are arranged side by side so as to abut at multiple points in order to stably hold the smartphone 5, the extending direction or the juxtaposing direction coincides with the protruding and retracting sliding direction, and the clamping units 42 and 43 can be prevented from interfering with other members (panel unit 24). In addition, in the tilt unit 12 immediately after being raised, the pair of clamping units 42 and 43 face each other in the horizontal direction. This improves convenience when displaying a vertically long image on the smartphone 5.

[0038] Since the holding part 4 is rotatably supported by the base part 3, after the tilt part 12 is raised, the holding part 4 can be rotated so that the pair of clamping parts 42, 43 face each other in an appropriate direction, and the smartphone 5 can be clamped. The holding portion 4 can be rotated so that the holding portion 4 becomes as shown in FIG.

[0039] Furthermore, since the fixed clamping portion 42 is configured with two holding claws 421 slidably provided along the edge of the smartphone 5, the smartphone 5 can be stably clamped by sliding the holding claws 421 according to the dimensions of the smartphone 5. Furthermore, since the position of each of the two holding claws 421 can be adjusted by sliding movement, the two holding claws 421 can be moved to avoid operation buttons such as the volume button and power button present on the side of the smartphone 5 and a charging connector connected to the side, and the like, to clamp the smartphone 5.

[0040] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes other configurations that can achieve the object of the present invention, and the following modifications are also included in the present invention.

[0041] For example, in the above embodiment, the tilt portion 12 has a base portion 3 and a holding portion 4 and is configured to be able to change the orientation of the smartphone 5 it holds, but the tilt portion may not have a rotation mechanism and the smartphone 5 may be configured to be used in a fixed orientation.

[0042] In the above embodiment, the fixed clamping unit 42 is configured with two slidable holding claws 421, but the movable clamping unit may have a plurality of slidable holding claws. In addition, the holding claws may be non-slidable if the width of the holding claws (the dimension along the edge of the smartphone 5) is sufficiently large, or if a sufficient number of holding claws are provided, and the smartphones of various sizes can be held.

[0043] In addition, in the above embodiment, the tilt portion 12 is configured to hold the smartphone 5 by changing the standing angle so that it faces upward, but the tilt portion may also hold the held object by changing the standing angle so that it faces downward.

[0044] In the above embodiment, the holding device 1 holds a smartphone, but the held object is not limited to a communication device such as a smartphone, and may be, for example, a playback device that does not have a communication function and simply plays videos stored in a recording medium, or may be an object without a screen. In addition, when the held object is a mobile device, the mobile device is not limited to a smartphone as in the present embodiment, and may be, for example, a tablet terminal or a game device.

[0045] In addition, in the above embodiment, the holding device is provided on the instrument panel of a vehicle, but the holding device may be provided on a moving body other than a vehicle, such as a ship or an aircraft, or may be provided on a wall or furniture inside a building.

[0046] In addition, the best configurations and methods for implementing the present invention are disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the present invention has been mainly illustrated and described with reference to specific embodiments, but those skilled in the art can make various modifications to the above-described examples in terms of shape, material, quantity, and other detailed configurations without departing from the scope of the technical idea and purpose of the present invention. Therefore, the descriptions limiting the shapes, materials, etc. disclosed above are illustrative descriptions to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention, so descriptions of members that are free from some or all of the limitations on the shapes, materials, etc. are included in the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1 Holding device 10 Retention mechanism 11 Slide section 12 Tilt section 20. Device body 3 Base 4. Holding part 42 Fixed clamping part 43 Mobile clamping unit 5 スマートフォン(object to be held)

Claims

[Claim 1] A holding device including a holding mechanism for holding an object to be held and a device body for attaching the holding mechanism to an object to be held, the holding mechanism includes a slide portion supported on the device body so as to be slidable in and out of the device body, and a tilt portion supported on the slide portion so as to change an upright angle; The tilt section has a pair of clamping sections that are biased toward each other to clamp the object to be held, and when the tilt section is tilted along the protruding / retracting sliding direction, the clamping direction and the protruding / retracting sliding direction are perpendicular to each other, and the tilt section is stored in the device body.

Images