FOLDABLE SUPPORT POR PERSONAL COMPUTERS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a foldable support for personal computers. STATE OF THE ART

As is known, portable personal computers, also called notebooks, are in ever more widespread use for the most diversified working activities. Anyone happening to conduct his working activity outside his headquarters or office is in frequent need of carrying his notebook along, not merely in order to quickly consult data, utilize applications or offer displays, but also to connect the notebook to machinery or appliances in order to act, through specific programs, on the software governing said machinery or industrial appliances. The high degree of automation already attained by numerous plants and machines, even in the most traditional industrial sectors, makes it possible to electronically control such plants through specific software.

The specialists called upon to act on such machinery, appliances or devices are thus frequently faced with the need to work in workshops, sheds, and more generally in the production departments of factories or establishments, and are required to utilize their notebook and in some cases to hook up their notebooks to machinery or appliances in locations lacking any resting plane to fit their requirements.

In fact, everyone knows that workshops and industrial sheds in general do not provide resting planes suitable for resting a notebook, at any rate not in the immediate vicinity of such machinery.

Another example of a situation where the specialists must act directly on machinery or devices is in the hospitals, or even more specifically, in the operating room. With the modern devices used in the biomedical sector, it is for instance frequent to encounter, in hospitals next to most complex machinery as well as in operating rooms next to surgeons, specialists acting on the parameters

of said machines or appliances while directly connecting their notebooks to the same.

In all these cases it is evident that the user's or the specialist's problem is to' find an adequate resting plane for the portable computer, such as to allow him to comfortably work at the point most suitable for acting on the machinery or on the device.

Yet another drawback to possibly arise is the fact that the notebook rested on unsuitable resting planes may not be cooled optimally or not at all. As is known, during their operation portable computers are subject to considerable heating induced above all by their compact hardware architecture. Resting the computer on unsuitable planes, such as for instance where the user is seated and leans the computer on his legs, the proper cooling of the computer, which occurs over air intakes set into the bottom surfaces of the computer itself, may be hampered. Whenever the computer is rested on an unsuitable surface, said air intakes are partially or wholly obstructed, thus compromising its proper cooling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main purpose of the present invention is therefore to furnish a support for portable computers, capable of resolving the drawbacks mentioned above.

Within this aim, it is a purpose of the present invention is to furnish a support for portable computers capable of being easily moved from one location to another, while adapting it to the user's requirements according to the circumstances. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a support for portable computers capable of easily being carried about by its user.

Not the last purpose of the present invention is to provide a support for a portable computer capable of being adjusted in height, so as to adapt itself to various conditions of usage. This aim and these and other purposes, which will become better evident in the following description of a preferred of embodiment of the present invention, are achieved by a support for personal computers characterized by the fact that it comprises at least one element of resting on the ground and a telescopic rod, associated at a first one of its extremities with said element for resting on the ground, and at the

opposite extremity with a supporting element suitable for supporting a portable computer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become better evident from the following detailed description, offered in an exemplifying but not limiting manner in the enclosed figures, wherein:

Figure 1 shows the support for a portable computer according to the present invention in an open configuration; Figure 2 shows the support for a computer according to the present invention in a completely closed configuration;

Figure 3 shows the support for a computer according to the present invention in the same folded configuration of Figure 2, but in a prospective view from the bottom; Figure 4 shows the support for a computer according to the present invention in a configuration suitable for resting on the ground;

Figure 5 shows the support for a computer according to the present invention in a configuration in which the telescopic rod is, when opened, in an essentially vertical position; Figure 6 shows the support for a computer according to the present invention in a configuration wherein said telescopic rod is extended;

Figure 7 shows the support for computers according to the present invention in a configuration wherein the supporting element for the portable computer is in an opened position;

Figure 8 shows the support for a computer according to the present invention in a final, fully opened configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrated for exemplifying purposes in the mentioned figures, the same concerns a foldable and adjustable support for personal computers suitable for folding, so as to be comfortably carried about.

In particular, with reference to the mentioned figures, the foldable support 1 for a personal computer according to the

present invention comprises an element for resting it on the ground 2, with a telescopic rod 3 attached to the same. This telescopic rod 3 happens to be connected at one extremity to said element for resting on the ground 2, and at the opposite extremity to a supporting element 5 suitable for supporting a portable computer.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown for exemplifying purposes in the enclosed figures, the telescopic rod 3 is hinged at point 6 to the element for resting on the ground 2, which is essentially conformed like a resting plate. The supporting element 5, being likewise also essentially conformed like a resting plate, is hinged in point 7 at the opposite extremity of said telescopic rod 3.

According to the form of embodiment shown in the figures, the telescopic rod is formed by a number of rods 3a, 3b and 3 e that can telescopically be slid one into another. The presence of locking means constituted for instance of the threadable ring nuts 3ab, 3bc between one rod and the other allows adjusting the length of the telescopic rod 3. The height of the supporting element 5 for the portable computer from the ground can thus be varied according to the needs of the user. The telescopic rod 3 thus happens to be capable of being shortened and folded on said element for resting on the ground 2. Locking means 4 for said telescopic rod 3, constituted for instance of a mobile matching element suitable for matching with said telescopic rod 3 so as to prevent it from leaning against said element for resting on the ground, maintain said telescopic rod in an essentially vertical position. A fixed matching element not shown in the figures presents the telescopic rod 3 from leaning in the opposite direction.

The locking means 4 can be appropriately disengaged from said telescopic rod 3, so as to allow it to be folded against said elements for resting on the ground 2 only when needed and after an intervention by the user. For instance, in case said locking means are constituted of a push-button type matching element 4, the same may in particular be mounted on an elastic element, for instance on a helical spring, so as to be capable of being disengaged from a contact with the telescopic rod 3 only after an intervention by the user. In the

configuration shown for exemplifying purposes in the figures, the locking means are constituted of a push-button type matching with element 4, suitable for being invisibly withdrawn into an appropriate opening or recess provided in said element for resting on the ground 2, between said resting element 2 and said pushbutton-type matching element 4, by acting on an elastic element not represented in the figures. According to this configuration, when the telescopic rod 3 is raised to a vertical position by using the element for resting on the ground 2 which is rested on the ground and identifies the horizontal position, said pushbutton-type matching element 4 is pushed by the elastic element into the engaging element shown in Figure 1. In this position, the matching element 4, being as mentioned kept in a position engaged with the telescopic rod 3 by said elastic means acting between said element for resting on the ground 2 and said matching element 4, prevents the telescopic rod 3 from folding over said element for resting on the ground 2, while ensuring that the rod 3 remains in an essentially vertical position with respect to said element for resting on the ground 2.

The locking means will likewise act between the terminal element 3c of said telescopic rod 3 and the sustaining element 5 for the portable computer. These locking means are not evidenced in the figures but can be constituted of a System similar to that previously described for the matching element 4, which acts between the telescopic rod 3 and the element for resting on the ground 2.

According to the description given to this point, the support for a portable computer as an object of this invention may not only be adjusted by the telescopic rod 3 so as to allow emplacing the computer at different heights from the ground, but can also be folded so as to be easily transported, as better described in the following.

Again, with reference to the enclosed figures, the element for resting on the ground 2 also comprises a number of resting feet 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d. These resting feet are advantageously hinged to said element for resting on the ground 2, so as to be folded in appropriate seats provided in the lower portion of said element for resting on the ground

2, as shown for instance in the figures 2 and 3, and extracted if needed as shown for instance in the figures from 4 to 6 for the purpose of increasing the stability of resting the said element 2 on the ground. In a similar manner, the supporting element 5 for the portable computer may advantageously be equipped with a number of sustaining arms 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d hinged to the same. In a manner similar to that described above for the resting legs, the sustaining arms 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d may also be folded in appropriate seats provided on said sustaining elements 5, as shown for instance in Figure 2, for the purpose of reducing the overall encumbrance of the resting element to ease its transport, and can if needed be extracted as shown in Figure 1 , in order to increase the resting surface for the portable computer, so as to render this resting device more stable. Additional matching elements 8, visible in Figure 1 , may advantageously be provided at the rim of said supporting element 5, so as to match with the said portable computer and prevent the portable computer from accidentally sliding off said supporting element 5.

With reference to the enclosed figures, the support for portable computers according to the present invention can therefore be opened and folded as follows.

Starting from the configuration shown in the Figures 2 and 3, where the support as an object of this invention is fully folded and therefore easily transportable, the same can be opened while following, but not necessarily in the same order described here, the phases shown in the Figures 4, 5 and 6. In particular, the support for portable computers can be rested on the ground by extracting its supporting legs 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d and attaining the configuration in Figure 4. Subsequently, as shown in Figure 5, the telescopic rod 3 is raised to an essentially vertical position with respect to the element resting it on the ground 2, until the locking means formed by the pushbutton element 4 matches with said telescopic rod 3, keeping it stably in an essentially vertical position. When said frontal portion of the rod 3 matches with said pushbutton element 4, a fixed matching

element not shown in the figures matches with the rod 3 at its frontal portion, thereby helping to hold the rod 3 in a vertical position.

In the configuration of Figure 5, the supporting element 5 is still folded against the telescopic rod 3. In the subsequent Figure 6, the telescopic rod 3 is extended by extracting the rods 3a, 3b and 3 e to their full length or according to the user's requirements, then acting on the locking means of the rods 3ab and 3bc in order to lock the telescopic rod 3 in the desired configuration. Figure 7 shows the following phase, in which the supporting element 5 is opened while taking it to an essentially horizontal position, and the resting arms 5a, 5b and 5c are finally extracted as shown in the subsequent Figure 8, thus achieving the final configuration in which the support for portable computers according to the present invention is fully open and ready for use. The order of performing the operations of opening the support from the folded position described to this point may be varied by the user.

When the same operations for opening the support described to this point are performed in reverse, the support itself can be easily folded while returning it to the configuration of Figure 2

Once folded as shown in the Figures 2 and 3, the support according to the present invention may be usefully stored in the same bag used for carrying the portable computer, provided the same is fitted with an appropriate pocket. Alternatively, moreover, the support for a portable computer according to the present invention can, once folded, be conveniently transported by connecting it to the lower rim of a portable computer carrying bag. The support may in this manner act as a resting element for the bag containing the computer whenever the same is rested on the ground, thus achieving the result of rendering the support more stable and reliable.

It has thus been shown that the support for portable computers according to the present invention allows to achieve the advantages aimed for, and to overcome the drawbacks left unresolved by the devices of the same type already known at the state of the art.

It has in particular been shown that the support for portable computers according to this invention achieves its purpose of being easily transported and set up by the user according to his needs, because it is endowed with a very lightweight and compact construction. A further scope achieved by the present invention is of providing a foldable support for portable computers so as to be easily put away in a bag or connected to the bottom of an appropriately formed bag.

Moreover, the support for portable, computers according to this invention also allows the user to set up his computer at various heights, as the computer is adjustable in height depending on the requirements.

Not last, an advantage secured by the support in accordance with the present invention is of favoring an optimum cooling condition of the portable computer, owing to the fact that the portable computer's resting surface is especially conceived to avoid obstructing the circulation of air.

Numerous modifications may be applied thereto by an expert in the branch, without thereby leaving the range of protection of the present invention.

The range of protection of the claims is therefore not to be limited to the preferred illustrations or forms of embodiment shown in the description for exemplifying purposes. The claims are on contrary meant to encompass all the patentable characteristics of novelty deducible from the present invention, including all the characteristics that would be treated as being equivalent by a specialist in the branch.