Holding device

Abstract

To provide a holding device capable of holding a separate object to be held while securing area of a front display unit of a device body.SOLUTION: In a holding device 1, a front panel unit 23 is provided to the front of a device main body 20, a slide unit 11 is supported so as to be slidably deployable / retractable from the front of the device main body 20, and width of the slide unit 11 and a tilt unit 12 is smaller than width of the front panel unit 23. As a result of the configuration, the holding device can hold a separate smartphone 5 while ensuring area of the front panel unit 23.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] Conventionally, electronic devices have been proposed in which the display is configured to be slidable and tiltable (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the conventional electronic device described in Patent Document 1, the display is stored in the main body when not in use, and when in use, the display slides outward from the main body and stands up, so that the display screen faces the user. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-142984 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, as devices having a screen, plate-shaped devices such as smartphones are known, and a configuration is conceivable in which a held object having a screen is used instead of a display in the electronic device described in Patent Document 1. That is, a held object separate from the electronic device may be held, and information may be transmitted to the user by displaying an appropriate image or the like on the screen. Similarly, when a separate held object is used in this way, it is preferable to store the mechanism for holding the held object in the main body when not in use, and a sliding mechanism similar to that of the electronic device in Patent Document 1 may be provided.

[0005] When operating such a separate device in conjunction with the device, or when using the device itself by itself without holding the separate device, it is necessary to provide a display unit for operation, etc. on the front of the device body. In this case, if the holding mechanism is pulled out from the front of the device body, the space for providing the front display unit is reduced.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is, for example, to provide a holding device that can hold a separate object while ensuring the area of ​​the front display portion of the device body. [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 a device main body for attaching the holding mechanism to an attachment target, wherein the holding mechanism comprises a sliding portion supported so as to be freely slidable in and out of the front of the device main body, a front display portion is provided on the front of the device main body, the width of the sliding portion is narrower than the width of the front display portion, the holding mechanism is pulled out from the device main body and stands up, and when the front display portion forms the front wall of the device main body, the upper end of the holding mechanism is positioned above the upper end of the device 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 a device body for attaching the holding mechanism to an attachment target. The holding mechanism includes a slide portion that is supported so as to be slidable in and out of the front surface of the device body. A front display portion is provided on the front surface of the device body. The width of the slide portion is narrower than the width of the front display portion.

[0010] The slide portion is supported so as to be freely slidable in and out from the front of the device body, and the width of the slide portion is narrower than the front display portion, so that a separate object to be held can be held while ensuring the area of ​​the front display portion of the device body.

[0011] The sliding portion is preferably configured to be manually operated by the user. This eliminates the need for an electric mechanism for sliding operation, and the width of the sliding portion can be easily narrowed. In addition, when the holding mechanism includes a tilt portion as described below, the tilt portion is also preferably configured to be manually operated by the user.

[0012] It is preferable that the front display section has a concave cutout section in which the slide section is disposed, thereby making it possible to suppress interference between the front display section and the slide section.

[0013] The holding mechanism includes a tilt section supported by the slide section so that the standing angle can be changed, the tilt section has a rectangular plate-shaped holding plate section located on the back side of the object to be held, and a clamping section protruding from the holding plate section to clamp the object to be held, and it is preferable that the thickness of the tilt section in the clamping section is greater than the depth of the notch section, and the front display section is configured to be at least one of rotating the notch section side away from the device body and removing it from the device body. This makes it easier to clamp the object to be held by increasing the protruding dimension of the clamping section, and by temporarily rotating or removing the front display section when the clamping section passes through the front display section, interference between the clamping section and the front display section can be suppressed. Therefore, there is no need to shape the front display section to match the clamping section, and the area of ​​the front display section can be increased.

[0014] It is preferable that the holding mechanism is configured to be capable of changing the orientation of the held object, so that the user can use the held object in an appropriate orientation.

[0015] 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

[0016] 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.

[0017] 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.

[0018] The holding mechanism 10 is held by the device body 20 so as to be freely protruding and retracting. The holding mechanism 10 includes a slide portion 11 supported by the device body 20 so as to be freely protruding and retracting from the front, 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.

[0019] 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.

[0020] The device main body 20 also includes a detachable rectangular plate-shaped front panel section 23 as a front display section that forms the front wall of the device main body 20 (i.e., is provided on the front surface 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 of the panel section 24. That is, the front panel section 23 can be rotated and removed from the device main body 20.

[0021] 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.

[0022] The holding device 1 described above holds the smartphone 5 in the following manner.

[0023] 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.

[0024] 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 section 23 is rotated around the shaft protrusion 231 shown in FIG. 3 as the rotation center and tilted forward or removed from the panel section 24 so as not to interfere with the movement of the holding mechanism 10. That is, the front panel section 23 can both rotate such that the cutout section 232 side described later moves away from the device body 20 and be removed from the device body 20. At this time, in the holding mechanism 10, holding claws 421 and 431 described later face each other in the pull-out direction (i.e., line up). That is, 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 and retracting sliding direction of the slide section 11 are aligned.

[0025] 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 upper side and two holding claws 421 are located on the lower side. In addition, in the chucking mechanism 46, the one holding claw 431 on the upper side is spring-biased toward the two holding claws 421 on the lower side.

[0026] In step S14, 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 S15, 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] 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 the direction perpendicular to the surface of the screen of the smartphone 5. As described above, in the stage of step S15, the smartphone 5 is held in a landscape orientation (a state in which its longitudinal direction faces horizontally). If the user wants to view the display screen with the smartphone 5 in a portrait orientation (a state in which its longitudinal direction faces up and down), the smartphone 5 can be turned to a portrait orientation in the next step S16. That is, in step S16, the chucking mechanism 46 is turned 90° clockwise in the figure centered on the rotation axis O1 together with the smartphone 5. This rotation turns the smartphone 5 to a portrait orientation. Furthermore, if the user subsequently wants to view the display screen with the smartphone 5 in a landscape orientation, the chucking mechanism 46 is returned 90° counterclockwise in the figure, and the smartphone 5 is turned to a landscape orientation.

[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 portion 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 portion 41, a movable clamping portion 43 overlapping the back surface of the holding plate portion 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. Note that FIG. 5 shows a state in which the smartphone 5 is not being held (the state of step S13 above), and the dimensions and positional relationships of each portion 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 slide along the edge of the smartphone 5 to function as a contact portion. 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 separated 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 is moved 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 are approximately aligned.

[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 in step S16 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 located 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] Next, the detailed shapes and dimensions of the front panel portion 23 and the holding mechanism 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0038] A concave cutout portion 232 is formed in the upper end surface of the front panel portion 23. The cutout portion 232 is located at the center in the width direction (horizontal direction) of the front panel portion 23, and is formed in a range of about 1 / 3 to 1 / 2 of the entire width of the front panel portion 23. In addition, the shaft protrusion 231 is located near the lower end of the front panel portion 23, and the upper end portion of the front panel portion 23, where the cutout portion 232 is formed, rotates around the lower end portion.

[0039] The depth D1 of the notch 232 is approximately equal to the thickness T1 of the slide portion 11 and the thickness T2 of the tilt portion 12 other than the clamping portions 42 and 43. The depth D1 is smaller than the thickness T3 of the tilt portion 12 at the clamping portions 42 and 43. The width W1 of the notch 232 is approximately equal to the width W2 of the slide portion 11 and the width W3 of the tilt portion 12. That is, the widths of the slide portion 11 and the tilt portion 12 are narrower than the entire width of the front panel portion 23. In this embodiment, the slide portion 11 and the tilt portion are both formed as a plate, and the "width" of these refers to the dimension in the width direction (Y direction). In addition, when the slide portion is formed of a pair of rail-shaped members extending along the protruding and retracting slide direction (X direction), the "width" of the slide portion refers to the dimension in the opposing direction (Y direction) of the pair of rail-shaped members.

[0040] When the sliding portion 11 and the tilting portion 12 are stored in the device body 20, the tilting portion 12 is positioned in the notch portion 232 as shown in Fig. 1, and when the sliding portion 11 and the tilting portion 12 are pulled out from the device body 20 to hold a smartphone 5, the sliding portion 11 is positioned in the notch portion 232 as shown in Fig. 2. Note that, as shown in Fig. 2, a smartphone 5 having a long side dimension larger than the width W1 of the notch portion 232 may be held, or a smartphone having a long side dimension smaller than the width W1 may be held.

[0041] With the above configuration, the sliding portion 11 and the tilting portion 12 are supported so as to be freely slidable in and out of the front of the device body 20, and because the width of the sliding portion 11 is narrower than the width of the front panel portion 23, it is possible to hold a separate smartphone 5 while ensuring the area of ​​the front panel portion 23. Furthermore, if the width of the tilting portion 12 is narrowed, it becomes difficult for the tilting portion 12 alone to hide a structure located behind it, but by having the tilting portion 12 hold the smartphone 5, it is possible to hide the structure located behind it, thereby improving the design.

[0042] The sliding portion 11 and the tilting portion 12 are manually operated by the user, so there is no need to provide an electric mechanism for the sliding and tilting operations, and the width of the sliding portion 11 and the tilting portion 12 can be easily narrowed.

[0043] By forming the concave cutout portion 232 in the front panel portion 23, interference between the front panel portion 23 and the sliding portion 11 and the tilt portion 12 can be suppressed.

[0044] The front panel unit 23 is configured to be rotatable and detachable with respect to the device body 20, and the thickness T3 of the tilt portion 12 at the clamping portions 42, 43 is greater than the depth D1 of the cutout portion 232, making it easier to clamp the smartphone 5 and reducing interference between the clamping portions 42, 43 and the front panel unit 23. There is no need to shape the front panel unit 23 to match the clamping portions 42, 43, and the area of ​​the front panel unit 23 can be increased.

[0045] The tilt unit 12 includes a holding unit 4 and a base unit 3, and is configured to be able to change the orientation of the smartphone 5 it holds, allowing the user to use the smartphone 5 in any orientation.

[0046] 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.

[0047] For example, in the above embodiment, the sliding portion 11 and the tilting portion 12 are manually operated by the user, but an electric mechanism for the sliding and tilting operations may be provided.

[0048] In addition, in the above embodiment, a concave cutout portion 232 is formed in the front panel portion 23, but interference may be suppressed by forming a through hole in the front panel portion and arranging the slide portion 11 or the tilt portion 12 in this through hole.

[0049] In addition, in the above embodiment, the thickness T3 of the tilt portion 12 at the clamping portions 42, 43 is greater than the depth D1 of the cutout portion 232, but the thickness T3 may be less than or equal to the depth D1. With this configuration, there is no need to rotate or remove the front panel portion 23 when sliding the sliding portion 11 to pull out the tilt portion 12.

[0050] In addition, in the above embodiment, the tilt portion 12 is configured to be able to change the orientation of the smartphone 5 held by it, but the holding device may also be configured to hold the smartphone in a fixed orientation for use.

[0051] In addition, in the above embodiment, the holding mechanism 10 is provided with a slide portion 11 and a tilt portion 12, but it is sufficient for the holding mechanism to have at least a slide portion, and the held portion may be held by being placed on the pulled-out slide portion.

[0052] In the above embodiment, the holding device 1 holds a smartphone, but the held object to be held may be anything that has a screen, and may be, for example, a playback device that does not have a communication function and simply plays videos stored in a recording medium. 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, a game device, or the like.

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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]

[0055] 1 Holding device 10 Retention mechanism 11 Slide section 12 Tilt section 20. Device body 23 Front panel (front display) 232 Recess 3 base 4 Holding part 41 Holding plate part 42 Fixed clamping part 43 Movable clamping part 5 Smartphone (held object)

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 that is supported so as to be capable of slidingly projecting and retracting from a front surface of the device body, A front display unit is provided on the front surface of the device body, The width of the slide portion is narrower than the width of the front display portion, the holding mechanism is pulled out from the device body and stands up, and in a state in which the front display unit forms a front wall of the device body, an upper end of the holding mechanism is positioned above an upper end of the device body; A holding device characterized in that

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