STAND FOR BEARING AN APPARATUS

The present invention relates to a stand for bearing an apparatus such as a display apparatus, adapted to be used in a ground-supported condition in which the apparatus is supported by the ground through the stand, and in a wall-supported condition in which the apparatus is fixed to a wall through the stand, the stand comprising a bottom part having a bottom side which rests on the ground at least when the stand is used in the ground-supported condition and an upright part, which is provided with an upper end, a lower end detachably fixed to the bottom part, a connecting portion to which the apparatus is attachable and a back side which faces the wall at least when the stand is used in the wall-supported condition.

An embodiment of a prior art stand is known from the European patent application EP 1 583 061 Al. This prior art document discloses a stand attached to a portable display apparatus. The stand has an upright part which is attachable to a bottom part. The upright part of the known stand can be mounted to the wall as it comprises a grip handle at the upper end of the upright part which can be engaged with a hook projecting from the wall. The upright part can be supported by a table when it is attached to the bottom part.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a stand especially for bearing a non-portable apparatus, usually being heavy and/or having a big size.

To obtain this object, the upright part has a column shape and has an engaging member integrated in it to fix the upright part to the wall.

Due to these features the stand can be used for locating a non-portable apparatus at a relatively high level in the ground-supported condition when standing on the floor, while it can be mounted to the wall as well, without necessitating a grip handle on the stand.

The advantage of the flat back side according to claim 2 is that in particular in the wall-supported condition the stand has a stable position against the wall. This is,

however, also beneficial in the ground- supported condition when the back side of the stand is located against the wall.

The advantage of the embodiment according to claim 3 is that the upright part needs a minimal space in a direction perpendicular to the wall when it is placed against the wall. Thus it enables furniture to be placed in front of the stand. An upright part which is at least partly hollow enables to hide cables therein, for example, cables from the apparatus supported by the stand.

The features of claim 4 provide a simple engagement means of the stand to fix it to the wall.

A keyhole as the embodiment of the engaging member according to claim 5 is a beneficial combination of a simple and safe engagement.

A preferred embodiment of the stand according to claim 6 comprises at least one supporting member for bearing accessories. The advantage of this embodiment is that it offers the user additional storage space, for example, for placing accessories connected to the apparatus.

The advantage of the embodiment according to claim 7 is that the supporting member can be used in the wall-supported condition as well. A supporting member which is displaceable with respect to the upright part is beneficial, for example, if the user desires to place an accessory at a lower or higher level or in the case of more than one supporting member, which bear accessories of different sizes.

The benefit of a shelf such as defined in claim 8 is that a shelf forms a stable base for bearing accessories.

The embodiment defined in claim 9 is preferred when an upright part extending above the apparatus is not desired.

The invention also relates to an apparatus in particular a display apparatus such as a flat screen TV, which is engaged with and supported by a stand such as described above.

A preferred embodiment such as defined in claim 11 has the benefit that the portion of the upright part which extends below the apparatus can be used for other functions in the wall-supported condition as well as in the ground-supported condition.

The benefit of the embodiment of claim 12 is that the height to which the apparatus has to be lifted to mount it to the wall is limited which facilitates the user to mount the apparatus to the wall. It is desired that the engaging member is located sufficient high for

stability which means that the engaging member is preferably located above the centre of gravity of the stand and the apparatus.

The invention further relates to a system comprising the stand according to the invention and an apparatus, particularly a display device, such as a flat screen TV set, which is engagable with the stand.

These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description with reference to the schematic drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a very schematic perspective plan view of the back side of a stand according to the invention having a flat screen TV attached to it.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the stand and the flat screen TV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an engaging member for mounting the stand of Figs. 1 and 2 to a wall according to the invention.

Figs. 4a-d are perspective front views of an embodiment of the stand and flat screen TV combination according to the invention in different use configurations/modes.

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a connection between a bottom part and an upright part of the stand of Fig. 4a.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the back side of an embodiment of a connection between an upright part of a stand and a flat screen TV according to the invention.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a connection between an upright part and a supporting member of the stand according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a flat screen TV 1 which is attached to a stand 2. The stand 2 comprises an upright part 3 and a bottom part 4. The upright part 3 comprises an upper end 5 and a lower end 6. The bottom part 4 is detachably connected to the lower end 6 of the upright part 3 and is substantially flat with a bottom side 7. The bottom side may be provided with rubber pads for example. The bottom part 4 may have other shapes, but preferably it has a small thickness at least at the position of the upright part 3.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1 the stand 2 has two use modes or conditions: a ground-supported condition and a wall-supported condition. In the ground-supported condition the upright part 3 and the bottom part 4 of the stand 2 are attached to each other

and the bottom side 7 of the bottom part 4 rests on the ground, such as the floor of a room. The bottom part 4 is preferably made of a heavy plate-like material and a relatively large bottom surface to achieve a stable ground-supported condition. In the wall-supported condition the stand 2 is mounted to a wall. In this condition the stand 2 will still extend below a lower outer edge of the flat screen TV 1. The bottom part 4 may be detached from the upright part 3 in the wall- supported condition. In the embodiment of Fig. 1 the lower end 6 of the upright part 3 is attached to the bottom part 4 at a location spaced from the edges of the bottom part 4. It is, however, also possible to minimize the distance between the edge of the bottom part 4 and the lower end 6 such that the upright part 3 may be positioned against the wall in the ground-supported condition.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1 the upright part 3 has a column shape which has a substantially rectangular cross section. The upright part 3 is preferably hollow and (partly) open at or near the upper and lower ends 5, 6 so as to provide the opportunity to guide and hide cables which come from the flat screen TV 1. The upright part 3 can be made mainly of one piece to achieve a stable and rigid stand 2. The upright part 3 further comprises a front side 8 and a back side 9. The back side 9 faces the wall at least when the stand 2 is used in its wall-supported condition. In practice the back side 9 will also often face the wall in the ground-supported condition, because users often place a TV against a wall. The back side 9 preferably has a substantially flat surface so as to achieve a stable condition of the upright part 3 and the flat screen TV 1 when the stand 2 is mounted to the wall.

The front side 8 of the upright part 3 of the stand 2 is provided with a supporting member 10 for bearing accessories, such as a DVD or video player or the like. In the embodiment of Fig. 1 the supporting member 10 comprises a shelf, but it may also be another type of supporting member 10, such as a DVD rack or the like.

Fig. 2 shows a front view of the flat screen TV 1 and the stand 2 in the wall- supported condition. This drawing shows that the bottom part 4, such as shown in Fig. 1, is removed from the upright part 3. The advantage of the stand 2 according to the invention is that in the wall- supported condition the upright part 3 still extends below the flat screen TV 1 such that the supporting member 10 always remains available to the user.

Fig. 3 shows an engaging member 11 which is integrated in the back side 9 of the upright part 3. It provides the possibility to mount the upright part 3 of the stand 2 to the wall. The embodiment of Fig. 3 comprises a keyhole 12 in the back side 9 of the upright part 3. The engaging member 11 may cooperate with a pin- shaped wall part 13, which is adapted such that it fits into the keyhole 12. The pin- shaped wall part 13 can be fixed to a plate 15

which can be mounted to the wall. The advantage of this embodiment of an engaging member is that it facilitates to mount the stand 2 to the wall in its wall-supported condition whereas it provides a safe engagement of the upright part 3 with the wall. The engaging member 11 may also have more than one hole in the back side 9 of the upright part 3 of the stand 2 in order to improve its stability in the wall-supported condition. The engaging member 11 is invisible when the stand 2 is mounted to the wall. Preferably, the engaging member 11 is located above the centre of gravity of the upright part 3 of the stand 2 so as to achieve a stable wall-supported condition.

Fig. 4a shows an embodiment of the flat screen TV 1 and the stand 2 in the ground- supported condition. This embodiment has two shelves as supporting member 10 for accessories. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4a the height of the shelves is adjustable with respect to the upright part 3.

Fig. 4b shows the embodiment of the flat screen TV 1 and the stand 2 in the wall-supported condition. The bottom part 4 is detached from the upright part 3 of the stand 2. The location on the wall to which the flat screen TV 1 is mounted can be chosen by the user, whereas the upright part 3 of the stand 2 and the shelves as supporting member 10 are still positioned below the flat screen TV 1.

In Fig. 4c again the wall-supported condition is shown, but now a bench 16 is placed near the wall below the flat screen TV 1. In this case it is still possible to have the bottom part 4 attached to the upright part 3 of the stand 2, such as shown in Fig. 4d. However, if the bench 16 is replaced by a cupboard of which the legs would partly rest on the bottom part 4, for example, it is desired to remove the bottom part 4. In the conditions shown in Figs. 4c and 4d the shelves as supporting member 10 have been removed as in this case the bench 16 may function as a supporting member. Due to the slim design of the upright part 3, the bench 16 or other pieces of furniture may be placed at a small distance from the wall.

Fig. 5 shows an embodiment of the lower end 6 of the upright part 3 and the bottom part 4 in detail. In this embodiment the bottom part 4 can be fixed to the upright part 3 by screws 17 which are screwed through the bottom part 4 into the upright part 3. The plate 18 is disposed between the bottom part 4 and the upright part 3 before fixing both parts together. This plate 18 is usually made of thin plastic or thin metal sheet. It may have a decorative function, and/or may act as an insulator if the bottom part 4 is made of glass thereby preventing cracks of the glass holes when the bottom part 4 is screwed to the upright part 3. The plate 18 may also act as a base for the upright part 3 during the wall support function to prevent the upright part from scouring or marking the ground.

Fig. 6 shows an embodiment of a connecting part 19 disposed between the upright part 3 and the FLAT SCREEN TV 1. The connecting part 19 comprises an H-shaped frame which can be fixed to the FLAT SCREEN TV 1 and a connection portion 20 of the upright part 3. The connecting part 19 may be made from metal and can be screwed or fixed in another manner to the FLAT SCREEN TV 1.

Fig. 7 shows an embodiment of the connection between the upright part 3 and a supporting member 10. In this embodiment the upright part 3 comprises a shelves holder 21 with which the supporting member 10 can be engaged. Fixation can be achieved by fixing elements 22, which may comprise screws. The shelves holder 21 may receive the fixing elements 22 at several heights (not shown) such that the vertical position of the supporting member 10 can be easily changed by the user.

From the foregoing it will be clear that the invention provides a versatile stand for an apparatus such as a display apparatus. Due to the features of the stand it can be used in a ground-supported condition and a wall-supported condition. As the engaging member is integrated in the upright part the stand according to the invention applies especially for apparatuses without a grip handle, such as non-portable apparatuses. As the upright part may provide at least one supporting member for bearing accessories, the supporting member is available in both the ground-supported condition and the wall-supported condition.

The invention is not restricted to the above-described embodiments as shown in the drawings, which can be varied in several ways without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, the apparatus may be an LCD TV or a plasma TV or other (display) apparatus. It is also possible to make the upright part of more than one piece, for example, which separate pieces may be movable with respect to each other so as to adjust the orientation of the upright part of the stand. Furthermore, alternative embodiments of the engaging member are also possible. The features of the various embodiments may be used in different combinations.

In general it is noted that, in this application, the expression "comprising" does not exclude other elements, and "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. The expressions "wall" and "ground" should be considered to include all types of vertical and horizontal bases to support the stand. Reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope thereof.