Rear Latch Hook Mount for Reliable Vehicle Device Docking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicles often lack suitable mechanical and electrical interfaces for securely mounting specialized electronic apparatuses, leading to inefficient and unreliable installations of custom equipment, particularly in retrofitting scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A mounting apparatus with a base, latch, and push buttons that biases the latch toward a latched position, allowing for secure engagement with receptacles on the object, along with electrical contacts for alignment and secure positioning, facilitating easy mounting and unmounting of electronic devices within vehicles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional mounting methods are used in vehicles without specialized interfaces, then installation flexibility is improved, but mounting reliability and security deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting apparatus provides a universal interface that can securely mount various specialized electronic apparatuses in conventional vehicles without requiring vehicle-specific modifications. The standardized base with receptacles and latch mechanism serves multiple device types, achieving both adaptability and reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting apparatus acts as an intermediary between conventional vehicle surfaces and specialized electronic devices. The base with standardized mechanical interfaces (receptacles, latches, push buttons) mediates the connection, translating between the vehicle's existing structure and the specialized equipment's mounting requirements
2Ease of operation
If simple mounting methods are used, then ease of installation is improved, but operational reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting apparatus employs self-latching through push buttons that automatically engage the latch mechanism when devices are placed on the base. The biasing element provides automatic reset functionality, and alignment features guide proper positioning, reducing manual intervention while ensuring reliable mounting
Solution Approach 2:
The latch mechanism is pre-configured in a spring-biased position ready to engage, and alignment features are pre-positioned to guide device placement. When a device is placed on the base, the push buttons automatically depress and trigger the latching action without requiring additional manual steps
3Reliability
If specialized mounting interfaces are added to conventional vehicles, then mounting reliability is improved, but device complexity and installation difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting system is segmented into a separate, standalone base unit that can be installed in conventional vehicles without modifying the vehicle structure. The base contains all specialized components (receptacles, latches, push buttons, biasing elements), isolating complexity from the vehicle platform while maintaining mounting reliability
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient, single-step secure mounting and unmounting of electronic devices, ensuring safe and reliable operation by providing a simple and effective interface for custom equipment installations in vehicles, addressing the lack of suitable interfaces in conventional vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
a first biasing element configured to bias the latch and the frame toward the latched position
Implementation Method 2
one or more second biasing elements associated with respective ones of the one or more push buttons configured to bias the one or more push buttons toward the extended position
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for mounting within a vehicle, an object having at least one receptacle in a first main surface. The apparatus comprises a base having a mounting surface. A latch and a frame are movable between latched and unlatched positions and are biased toward the latched position by a first biasing element. One or more push buttons are movable between extended and depressed positions and are biased toward the extended position by a second biasing element. A lower portion of the push button blocks and allows movement of the frame toward the latched position when the push button is in the extended and depressed position, respectively. The first main surface pushes the push button to the depressed position, thereby enabling the first biasing element to move the latch and the frame to the latched position, in which the latch engages with the at least one receptacle.