Slidable Jaw Cell Phone Mount with Corrugated Engagement Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cell phone mounts struggle to accommodate larger devices in both portrait and landscape orientations, particularly when users need to mount them in landscape mode, as they often require complex and costly mechanisms to securely hold the phone in place.
Innovation Solution
A mount design featuring adjustable left and right jaws with corrugated engagement plates that slide horizontally, allowing for independent adjustment and securement to a central support without the need for a squeezing mechanism, utilizing screw clamps to fix the jaws in place, enabling easy installation and removal of devices in either orientation with a charging cord attached.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a traditional cell phone mount with fixed jaws is used, then the mount structure is simple, but it cannot accommodate larger devices in both portrait and landscape orientations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the jaws movable rather than fixed. The right jaw and left jaw can slide horizontally relative to the central support, allowing the mount to dynamically adjust to different device widths and orientations. This sliding mechanism enables the same mount structure to accommodate both portrait and landscape orientations of various device sizes without requiring multiple fixed configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The mount is segmented into independent components: a central support and two separately movable jaws (right jaw and left jaw). Each jaw can be independently adjusted and secured with its own clamp screw, allowing fine-tuned adaptation to different device dimensions. This segmentation enables versatile accommodation while keeping each individual component relatively simple in structure.
2Reliability
If a squeezing mechanism is used to secure the phone, then the phone is held firmly in place, but the mechanism becomes complex and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The mount employs self-service by using gravity as the primary securing force. Once the jaws are positioned around the device and clamped in place, the device remains secure through its own weight acting downward, eliminating the need for additional active squeezing or locking mechanisms. The corrugated engagement plates provide friction and mechanical interlocking that work passively with gravity to hold the device securely.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex active mechanical squeezing mechanisms with a simpler passive system based on gravity and friction. The corrugated engagement plates create mechanical interlocking through their ribbed surfaces, and the clamp screws provide initial positioning, after which gravity maintains the secure hold without requiring continuous mechanical force or complex actuation systems.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the jaws are made adjustable to fit different device widths, then versatility is improved, but the adjustment mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The jaws are designed with horizontal sliding capability along the central support, creating a dynamic adjustment mechanism. The corrugated engagement plates allow smooth horizontal movement through their interlocking ribbed surfaces, enabling easy width adjustment without complex mechanisms. Each jaw can be independently positioned and secured, providing versatile adaptability with relatively simple mechanics.
Data Source
AI summary
A personal electronic device mount has a mounting bracket with a left jaw, a right jaw and a central support. The mount, which can be used for large cell phones, permits the device to be held in either a “portrait” orientation or a “landscape” orientation. Each of the left jaw, right jaw and central support has an engagement plate with plural corrugations that constrain the left and right jaws to horizontal sliding movement. The corrugations form surfaces on each of the engagement plates which interface with corresponding surfaces on each of the other engagement plates. The engagement plates of the left and right jaws move with respect to each other and with respect to the engagement plate of the central support. A left jaw clamp and a right jaw clamp independently affix the left jaw engagement plate and the right jaw engagement plate to the central support engagement plate at positions as desired by the user.