Patent Issued for Phone Holder (USPTO 9278652)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Journal of Engineering -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by VerticalNews journalists, a patent by the inventors Lundsgaard, Soren K. (Iverness, IL); Thomas, Joy A. (Glenview, IL), filed on February 19, 2015, was published online on March 8, 2016.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 9278652, is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, IL).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: "Various designs of phone holders for vehicles have side and bottom contact points that may cover buttons or USB connections. Other various designs of phone holders for vehicles may provide side-by-side holding designs which may potentially force the phone off center. Other various designs of phone holders for vehicles may provide side-by-side holding designs that require and necessitate a large grabbing area. Other various phone holders for vehicles may not provide the ability to attach or remove the cell phone or mobile device with one hand. The problem solved by this invention may be one of a cell phone or mobile device enhancer correcting many of these problems identified above. A phone holder that holds the cell phone or mobile device or mobile device which does not cover the buttons and/or the USB connections is desired. The phone holder may also allow the user to attach or remove the cell phone or mobile device with one hand. The phone holder may also be intended to improve driver safety and holding the cell phone or mobile device in the cradle in a vehicle."

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, VerticalNews editors also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "The following presents a general summary of aspects of the invention. This summary is not intended as an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the invention in a general form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

"In an aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for holding a cell phone or a mobile device in a vehicle may include: a cradle configured to receive a mobile device and a triangular hold securement system connected to the cradle. The cradle includes a base plate, a latch button, and a latch mechanism, wherein the latch button and the latch mechanism are defined on the base plate. The triangular hold securement system includes a first pair of dual grab posts, a second pair of dual grab posts, and a third grab post. The first pair of dual grab posts and the second pair of dual grab posts may be positioned to contact and engage the corners along one of two long sides of the mobile device and the third grab post may be positioned to contact and engage on the opposite long side of the mobile device. The first pair of dual grab posts may include a first corner post located on a top side of the mobile device and a second corner post located on a first side of the mobile device. The second pair of dual grab posts may include a third corner post located on a bottom side of the mobile device and a fourth corner post located on the first side of the mobile device. The first grab post and third grab post may be connected and one or more of the grab posts may be fixed. When a mobile device is inserted into the cradle, the mobile device may depress the latch button and release the latch mechanism thereby releasing the arm and biasing the grab posts towards the mobile device and securing the mobile device to the cradle. After a mobile device is secure in the cradle and when the mobile device is rotated, an axis of rotation may be about a corner of the mobile device near the first pair of dual grab posts or the second pair of dual grab posts to change the geometry of the grab posts such that the mobile device is released from the cradle. The first pair of dual grab posts and the third grab post may be connected by an arm and wherein when rotating the mobile device from a secure position in the cradle, the third grab post rotates while the first pair of dual grab posts and the second pair of dual grab posts remain fixed and the distance from the first pair of dual grab posts to the third grab post remains constant. Additionally, the third grab post may rotate about an axis of rotation around the first pair of dual grab posts in the direction of the mobile device rotation. The first pair of dual grab posts and the second pair of dual grab posts may be adjustable to a height and a width of the mobile device.

"In another aspect of this invention, an apparatus for holding a cell phone or a mobile device in a vehicle may include a cradle configured to receive a cell phone, wherein the cradle includes a base plate, a latch button, and a latch mechanism, wherein the latch button and the latch mechanism are defined on the base plate. The phone holder may also include a triangular hold securement system connected to the cradle. The triangular hold securement system includes a first pair of dual grab posts, a second pair of dual grab posts, and a third grab post. The first pair of dual grab posts may include two corner posts positioned to contact and engage on a top corner of the cell phone along a first long side of the cell phone. The second pair of dual grab posts may include two corner posts positioned to contact and engage a bottom corner of the cell phone along the first long side of the cell phone. The third grab post may be positioned to contact and engage along a second long side of the cell phone opposite the first long side. The first pair of dual grab posts and the third grab post may be connected by an arm and a biasing element, wherein the arm, the biasing element, and the grab posts secure the cell phone to the cradle. After a cell phone is secure in the cradle and when the cell phone is rotated, the third grab post may rotate about a corner of the mobile device near one of the first pair of dual grab posts or the second pair of dual grab posts to change the geometry of the grab posts such that the cell phone is released from the cradle. Additionally, the two corner posts of the first pair of dual grab posts may include a first corner post located on a top side of the cell phone and a second corner post located on the first side of the cell phone. The two corner posts of the second pair of dual grab posts may include a third corner post located on a bottom side of the cell phone and a fourth corner post located on the first side of the cell phone.

"In another aspect of this invention, an apparatus for holding a cell phone or a mobile device in a vehicle may include: a cradle configured to receive a mobile device and a triangular hold securement system connected to the cradle. The cradle may include a base plate, a latch button, and a latch mechanism, wherein the latch button and the latch mechanism are defined on the base plate. The triangular hold securement system may include a first corner support, a second corner support, and a grab post. The first corner support may be positioned to contact and engage a top corner of the mobile device along a top and a first long side of the mobile device. The second corner support may be positioned to contact and engage a bottom and the first long side of the mobile device. The grab post may be positioned to contact and engage along a second long side of the mobile device opposite the first long side. One of the corner supports may be connected by one or more arms and a linkage element to the grab post which provides biasing forces to the corner supports and the grab post to secure the mobile device to the cradle. When a mobile device is inserted into the cradle, the mobile device may depress the latch button and release the latch mechanism thereby releasing the one or more arms and biasing the corner supports and the grab post towards the mobile device and securing the mobile device to the cradle. After a mobile device is secure in the cradle and when the mobile device is rotated, the first corner support and the second corner support may remain fixed while the grab post rotates about an axis of rotation around a corner near the first corner support in the direction of the mobile device rotation such that the mobile device is released from the cradle."

For more information, see this patent: Lundsgaard, Soren K.; Thomas, Joy A.. Phone Holder. U.S. Patent Number 9278652, filed February 19, 2015, and published online on March 8, 2016. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=9278652.PN.&OS=PN/9278652RS=PN/9278652

Keywords for this news article include: Allstate Insurance Company.

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