IMPROVED MOUNTINGS FOR MONITORS

Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns improvements in and relating to mounting of monitors, whether alone or combined with a DVD player or other video source, and related in particular to the mounting of monitors to seats. The invention is for use primarily in automobiles and especially cars.

Background to the Invention

In recent years with the proliferation of relatively low cost ultra compact/ tablet style slim video display monitors using LCD or similar technologies, such display monitors are now encountered in a number of different environments and particularly as part of in-flight, and to a lesser extent, in-car, entertainment systems.

With in-flight entertainment systems the video display monitor is normally embedded into the rear face of the headrest of each passenger seat. The mount normally comprises a rigid plastics moulding defining a shallow recess in which the slim video monitor is held captive but able to pivot through a limited degree of freedom of movement. The mount is otherwise essentially a permanent mount which, although it may provide some access to maintenance engineers with appropriate tools, is not intended to allow demounting of the monitor. Demountability of the monitor would, of course, be undesirable since it could present an opportunity for theft by passengers.

In the context of in-car entertainment, it is only relatively recently that cars have begun to include video display monitors for passenger use. Coaches have had substantially the same seat-back monitors as aircraft for a number of years now. However, for private cars the use of seat back monitors has, until recently, been prohibitively expensive and not regarded as desirable for several reasons including that the driver should not be distracted and that the hardware represents a tempting target for thieves.

Currently the prevalent system for mounting of video display monitors to the back of car seats for the benefit of rear seat passengers is similar to the arrangements used in in-flight and in-coach entertainment - namely semi-permanently or permanently installing the monitor into the head rest or to the legs of the headrest. What the manufacturers fail to realise, however, is that by doing this they are exposing the owner to the risk of theft of the monitor by removal of the headrest since in most vehicles the headrest is readily detachable from the seat and the car owner certainly would not regularly remove the headrest from the car to prevent theft. Other mounting solutions have included, for example, the crude use of straps around the seat back or headrest to hold the monitor in place during travel. These existing methods of mounting are, however, not designed to meet automotive design standards or crash tests as specified in normal automotive testing and homologation.

A mounting assembly for mounting a video display monitor to a vehicle seat is needed that is safe and secure while suitably allowing for quick and easy demounting but without risk of harm to the passenger from impact with the assembly in the event of sudden deceleration.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an assembly for mounting a video display monitor to the back of a vehicle seat, which assembly comprises: a mounting that is fixed in use to the vehicle seat structure; a docking unit, the mounting being integral with or carrying the docking unit; and a docking leg that is mounted in use to a video display monitor, the docking unit being adapted to receive the docking leg therein and having coupling means to releasably hold the docking leg therein.

Preferably the mounting is configured to mount not to the headrest support structure but to a horizontal top rail, plate or other hard, fixed member of the seat back of the seat structure. This allows use even where the headrest is an active headrest that is able to move to reduce whiplash injuries.

Preferably the docking unit has a latch member that co-operatively engages in use with a recess, aperture or other feature of the docking leg to hold the docking leg therein.

Suitably the latch member is resiliently biased to engage with the docking leg and preferably the latch member is pivotally mounted to swing into and out of cooperative engagement with the docking leg.

The latch member advantageously has associated therewith a surface that is configured to be pushed by the docking leg when the docking leg is moved down into the docking unit to cause the latch member to swing away from co-operative engagement with the docking leg. Preferably the latch member has associated therewith a button surface that is adapted to be depressed by the user to disengage the latch

Particularly preferably the docking unit has an ejector to partway eject the docking leg from the docking unit. Suitably the ejector moves by a distance that is a minor fraction (less than half) of the length of the docking leg so that the docking leg will not jump from or fall from the docking unit on ejection. The ejector preferably has a resilient biasing means for biasing the ejector to eject and preferably has a projection or hook that projects into the docking unit and which is configured to be engaged by the docking leg as the docking leg is advanced down into the docking unit and which moves downwardly with the leg against the return force of the resilient biasing means.

In a particularly preferred embodiment the docking leg has electrical contact means thereon and the docking unit has complementary electrical contact means therein whereby power, audio and or visual or other electrical signals may be transferred between the docking unit and docking leg when the docking leg is inserted in the docking unit. Suitably the ejector moves by a distance that is at least sufficient to make or break the electrical contact between the electrical contact means of the docking leg and the complementary contact means of the docking unit.

The docking unit is suitably configured as a receptacle that comprises a sleeve moulding to receive the docking leg and a rigid metal chassis embracing the sleeve

moulding. The sleeve moulding may have an aperture through which the latch member is able to extend to engage with the docking leg.

Preferably the docking leg has a pivotal mount to the video display monitor whereby the viewing angle may be adjusted, and suitably the docking leg is configured to be also usable as a stand to prop the video monitor up on a table, shelf or other support surface.

The docking leg is suitably mounted to a special metal chassis that is mounted to the rear of the video display monitor or to a DVD player or other appliance integral with the rear of the video display monitor, the chassis and docking leg being designed to meet automotive crash test requirements.

Preferably the docking unit or a casing thereof is at least partly formed of an elastomeric plastics material and /or has rounded corners to minimise impact force should the viewer's head strike the unit or the monitor mounted to the unit.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figures 1A to 1D are perspective views of successive stages of installation of the mounting assembly of a first preferred embodiment of system to the top rail of a vehicle seat structure;

Figures 2 to 10 illustrate aspects of a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention having a docking unit shaped as a socket to receive a mounting stand on the monitor - Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the docking unit on the rear of the seat prior to insertion of the monitor stand, Figure 3 illustrates the monitor mounted to the docking unit and Figure 4 is a side elevation view of the monitor mounted to the docking unit;

Figures 5A to 5E are views of the monitor of this embodiment in side and front elevation, frontal perspective, rear perspective and perspective view from below, respectively;

Figures 6A and 6B are general assembly views of the dedicated components that make up the docking unit and the monitor stand/docking leg;

Figures 7A and 7B illustrate a first stage of docking the monitor stand/docking leg into the docking unit, being longitudinal sectional views through the ejector mechanism (Figure 7A) and through the latch mechanism (Figure 7B) - the diagram inset to the left-hand side illustrates the position of the docking leg relative to the docking unit in this stage of docking;

Figures 8A and 8B illustrate a second stage of the docking insertion process showing the monitor stand/docking leg progressing into contact with the latch and with the ejector mechanism;

Figures 9A and 9B illustrate the fully docked state of the monitor stand/docking leg into the docking unit with the ejector mechanism springs extended to their fullest extent and the latching mechanism in latching engagement with the leg/stand; and

Figures 1OA and 10B illustrate the initiation of ejection of the leg/stand from the docking unit by depression of the button part of the latch lever, disengaging the latch from the leg/stand.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

A major improvement to this arrangement is achieved by the first preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1A to 1D. In those Figures the top rail 2 of the seat back frame is shown. Here the mounting bracket comprises a pair of clamp rings 7 mounted over the top rail 2 and clamping to a support/ stabiliser plate 8. The plate 8 has a major portion 8a that lies and is bolted flat against the back of the seat and an upper portion 8b that is at an angle to the major portion 8a to provide a platform for the docking unit 9. Here the docking unit 9 is a tubular or box-shaped receptacle with an open upper/outer end forming a socket to receive a docking leg on the monitor. The opening has a protective bezel 10 around its rim

and is covered over by a cap that suitably is inwardly displaceable but spring-biased to its closure state. The docking unit 9 is installed into the seat back with only its upper opening with cap exposed. The whole assembly is thus exceptionally discrete with no protruding parts and not presenting any hazard to the passenger as well as being exceptionally firm and stable. The use of a docking leg for the mounting gives a great deal of flexibility and versatility to the mounting as will discussed further below with respect to Figures 2 to 10.

The docking unit presents a safe and secure surface that meets all automotive standards and requirements when the monitor is not installed. The mounting system is able to withstand large forces and loads that may be induced during automotive crashes and the docking unit holds the monitor securely in crash testing, meeting the required standards.

Turning now to Figures 2 to 10, the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrated in those Figures is a demountable system similar to the embodiment of Figure 1. This demountable system comprises a pivoting stand or docking leg 20 that is fastened to the rear of the monitor module/tablet 21 by a hinge 20a. The hinge 20a allows adjustment of screen angle for viewing whether the monitor module 21 is mounted to the docking station 100 by the leg 20 or is free-standing on a table, shelf or other support surface, propped up by the docking leg 20 (which in this latter case functions as a stand).

The free end of the stand/ docking leg 20 is provided with a latching recess 20b that is adapted to co-operatively engage with a latch member 101 of the docking station 100 when docked (see e.g. Figure 7B).

The monitor module/tablet 21 has an integrated DVD player 21a. A rigid metal chassis 22 housed within the casing of the monitor module 21 backs this. In Figure 5D the rear part of the monitor module 21 casing is removed and it can be seen that the rigid metal chassis 22 is a substantially flat metal plate spanning the width of the DVD player 21a and with inturned side edges 22b that partly cover the sidewalls of the DVD player 21a. The hinge 20a of the stand/ docking leg 20 is securely fixed directly to the rigid metal chassis 22 by hinge cradle 23. This fixing to the rigid metal chassis 22 ensures structural integrity of the assembly, giving the assembly the

necessary strength to meet the requirements of European Commission of Europe compliance testing under regulation ECE 17.

In addition to providing a mounting structure, the docking leg 20 is adapted to carry electrical wiring 24 and, as shown in Figure 5E, the underside of the stand/ docking leg 20 presents a set of electrical contacts 24a. These contacts 24a deliver power to the monitor module 21 when it is mounted in the docking station 100 and may also transfer video and/or audio or other signals to and from the module 21 to the docking station 100 in the vehicle seat and thence to other modules or audiovisual equipment.

Referring to Figures 6A and 6B, the docking station 100 comprises a sleeve moulding 100a that is sized and shaped to accommodate the docking leg 20 as a sliding fit. Figure 6A shows the rear/ seat-mounting side of the docking station 100 and from which it is apparent that the rear face of the sleeve moulding 100a has a large aperture 100b in its lower half. The aperture 100b allows the latch member 101 of latch moulding 102 to swing into the interior of the sleeve moulding 100a to engage with the recess 20b on the docking leg 20. The latch moulding 102 is pivotally mounted to an external rear projection of the sleeve moulding 100a and is held in place by a retaining plate 103 that externally backs onto the sleeve moulding 100a. At the lower/ free end of the latch moulding 102 facing forwardly is an enlarged formation that protrudes forwardly beneath the main part of sleeve moulding 100a and serves as a push button 105 for the user to press against to disengage the latch 101. A biasing spring 104 is located just behind the push button 105 between the retaining plate 103 and the lower part of the latch moulding 102 to bias the latch member 101 into the sleeve moulding 100a for latching.

When the latch 101 is disengaged the docking leg 20 may be partway ejected by a spring-loaded ejection mechanism comprising a pair of ejector hooks 106 that are vertically slideably mounted to the rear of the sleeve moulding 100a under the retaining plate 103. The ejector hooks 106 are each hung by and biased upwardly by a respective ejector spring 107 and in use they hook or project below the bottom/ leading end of the docking leg 20 to be able to pull the leg 20 upwardly by the force of the springs 107.

In counterpart to the electrical contacts 24 of the docking leg 20, the docking station 100 is provided with a PCB 108 with a set of contacts 109 that is presented to the interior of the sleeve moulding 100a through an aperture in the upper part of the sleeve moulding 100a (see e.g. Figure 9B) at a location corresponding to where the electrical contacts 24 will come to be when the docking leg 20 is fully inserted into the docking station 100 and latched in place. Wiring 111 extends from the PCB into the seatback and thence to the other AV equipment and power source within the vehicle.

The structural integrity of the docking station 100 is enhanced by housing it in a metal chassis 110 that has a flat rear plate 110a and sidewalls 110b that extend forwardly and around to the front of the docking station 100. The plate 110a is secured by mounting brackets 112 to an upper rail / structure 113 of the seatback (see Figure 4) - not to the headrest supports. This mounting to the seatback structure 113 and not the headrest supports, unlike prior seat mounting arrangements, makes the arrangement compatible with seats which include active headrests that rapidly move forwardly F during a crash or other violent deceleration of the vehicle to protect the seat occupant from whiplash injury. External to the chassis 110 the docking station 100 is encased in a smart, rounded edged plastics casing 114.

Referring to Figures 7 to 9, these show the stages of docking the monitor docking leg 20 into the docking unit 100 to be latched in place and Figure 10 shows the stage of latch release for ejection of the leg 20. In Figure 7A and B the docking leg 20 is poised at the top opening into the docking sleeve moulding 100a prior to full insertion and the spring biased latch 101 and spring biased ejector mechanism 106,107 are in their rest states.

In Figures 8A and 8B the second stage of the docking insertion process is shown with the docking leg 20 progressing downwardly to contact with the latch 101 and with the ejector hook 106.

Subsequent further downward movement of the leg 20 causes its tip to ride down the sloping cam-like upper surface 101a of the latch member 101 to temporarily deflect the latch 101/ latch moulding 102 back about its pivot out of the way of the leg 20. Substantially at the same time, with the user forcing the monitor 21

downwardly, the ejector hooks 106 are pushed downwardly by the tip of the leg 20 against the return force of the ejector springs 107 and the tip of the leg 20 is able to advance substantially to the bottom of the sleeve moulding 100a.

In Figures 9A and 9B the leg 20 is in its fully docked state in the docking unit 100 with the ejector mechanism springs 107 extended and a shoulder 101 b of the latching member 101 in latching engagement with a shoulder of the latching recess 20b of the leg 20. Here the electrical contacts 24 of the leg 20 are in full contact with the corresponding electrical contacts 109 of the docking unit 100.

When the leg 20 is latched in place, it may only be released by the user manually depressing the latch release button 105, as shown in Figure 10. This action swings the latch 101 rearwardly about the latch moulding 102 pivot and thus disengages the latch member 101 from the latch recess 20b again so that the leg 20 is free to move and be partially ejected by the ejector hooks 106 being pulled upwardly by the ejector springs 107. This ejection motion also breaks the electrical contact with the docking station 100.

Although the embodiments show mounting of monitors to vehicle seats, it will be apparent to the skilled person that the present invention is suitable for use in mounting monitors to other surfaces or fixtures within a vehicle such as the vehicle roof or centre console.