Quick-Connect Tablet Mount With Sliding Alignment and Knob Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mounting systems for electronic devices require tools for detachment and reattachment, are not adaptable to various device sizes, and often have intricate mechanisms prone to wear, making them inefficient for frequent use in mobile environments where rapid and secure power and data connections are necessary.
Innovation Solution
A mounting assembly with a protective frame assembly and a base assembly that uses slidably engaging mounting slots and blocks to align and connect electronic devices, featuring a rotatable latch for secure attachment and easy release without tools, allowing for a wide range of device sizes and ensuring reliable power and data connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If screw fasteners or tool-based mounting arrangements are used, then secure attachment is achieved, but detachment and reattachment require tools and time
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting system is divided into separate components: a base assembly with mounting blocks, a frame assembly with mounting slots, and a latch mechanism. This segmentation allows the frame to be quickly attached to the base by sliding the blocks into the slots, and securely latched without requiring tools, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and reliable attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The latch mechanism provides dynamic security - it maintains a secure locked state during operation but can be quickly released by rotating the latch. This dynamic characteristic allows the system to transition between secure attachment and easy removal without requiring tools, addressing both reliability and ease of operation requirements.
2Reliability
If intricate engagement mechanisms are used to connect plug and case, then secure power and data connection is achieved, but the mechanisms are subject to wear and failure
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting and connection functions are merged into a single sliding action. When the frame assembly is slid onto the base assembly, the mounting blocks guide the frame into precise alignment, simultaneously engaging both the mechanical mounting and the electrical connector. This eliminates separate intricate engagement mechanisms, reducing complexity while maintaining reliable power and data connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting blocks and mounting slots are designed to self-align and guide the frame assembly into the correct position during the sliding attachment process. This self-aligning feature ensures that the electrical connector automatically engages properly with the plug without requiring additional alignment mechanisms or complex engagement procedures, thereby reducing device complexity while ensuring reliable connection.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the base assembly has obstructing structures for mounting, then secure attachment is achieved, but it cannot accommodate a wide variety of device sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The base assembly with its mounting blocks and the frame assembly with mounting slots create a universal mounting interface that can accommodate various device sizes and configurations. The sliding engagement mechanism provides reliable attachment for different frame dimensions without requiring obstructing structures on the base assembly, thus achieving both adaptability and mounting security.
Data Source
AI summary
A frame assembly retains an electronic device such as a tablet computer between a frame and a back plate to expose the device's female connector. The back plate is positionable to overlie a base plate of a base assembly. A male plug is mounted on a pedestal to extend parallel to the base plate. The back plate and the base plate have a mating sliding connection with a mounting block with portions projecting into an opposed mounting slot. The connection guides the frame assembly to accurately engage the device female connector with the base assembly male plug. A knob is rotatable to releasably latch the frame assembly in its connected position with the base assembly and gives a sensible indication of the completed latching action. By rotating the knob the frame assembly is unlatched and urged away from the pedestal releasing the male plug from the electronic device female connector.