Support arm for flat display device e.g. LCD screen, has L-shaped member coupled to fastening part at end and coupled to pivot joint at another end, and another fastening part attaching display device to arm

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Netherlands © 2000262 © C PATENT²⁰ © Patent application: 2000262 © Filed: 06.10.2006 lnt.CI .:

F16M11 / 12 (2006.01)

<td>© Registered:</td><td>© Patent holder (s):</td>

<td>08.04.2008 IE 2008/06</td><td>S&amp;B Systems BV in Soest.</td>

<td>© Date:</td><td>© Inventor (s):</td>

<td> 08.04.2008</td><td>Dirk Jan Stoelinga in Soest.</td>

<td>© Published:</td><td>© Authorized representative:</td>

<td>02.06.2008 IE 2008/06</td><td>Ir. A. van Westenbrugge et al. 2502 LS</td>

<td></td><td>The Hague.</td>

© Control arm.

The invention relates to a supporting arm for a device, preferably for a screen, comprising a first mounting part for mounting the mounting arm on a frame or a wall, a first member, coupled at one end to the first mounting part and at a another end coupled to a first pivot that allows rotation about a first axis of rotation, a second member coupled to a first pivot on the first pivot, and provided at a second end with a second pivot joint that allows rotation about a second pivot axis, a second mounting member for securing the device to the support arm, the second mounting member coupled to the second pivot joint, the first and second pivot axes are substantially parallel to each other.

The invention furthermore relates to a rotary joint for a carrying arm, comprising a first tube part with a longitudinal axis, a second tube part which extends rotatably alloyed in the first tube part, and provided with an electric motor mounted in the first or second tube part, wherein the first tube part and the second tube part are mutually coupled by means of a transmission, the transmission being provided with a drive shaft, driven by the electric motor and in line with the longitudinal axis and with thereon a first ring with internal teeth and connected to the one tube part, an eccentric gear with a tooth that is at least one tooth smaller than the internal teeth of the first ring and the toothing of which engages the internal toothing of the first ring and which is provided with carrier parts, and a second ring which is connected to the other tube part and which is provided with driving parts co-acting with the driving parts of the gear wheel, whereby the first and second rings rotate relative to each other when the electric motor is operated.

NL C 2000262

The contents of this patent correspond to the original filed description with claim (s) and any drawing (s).

The Netherlands Patent Office is the Office for Industrial Property, an agency of the Ministry of

Economics

P6011362NL

Control arm

Background of the invention

The invention relates to a supporting arm for a device, preferably for a screen, specifically a flat screen. The invention further relates to a rotary joint, in particular suitable for a carrying arm.

Such suspension arms are known per se. However, the known support arms are difficult to automate and are not stable.

Summary of the invention

The object of the invention is to provide a suspension arm which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture from easily available and adaptable parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carrying arm which is easy to automate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carrying arm which is and remains stable, even under intensive use.

To this end, the invention provides a carrying arm for a device, preferably for a screen, comprising:

-a first mounting part for attaching the suspension arm to a frame or a wall;

- a first member coupled at one end to the first mounting part and coupled at another end to a first rotary joint allowing rotation about a first axis of rotation;

a second member coupled at a first end to the first pivot joint and at a second end provided with a second pivot joint allowing rotation about a second pivot axis;

a second attachment part for attaching the device to the carrying arm, the second attachment part being coupled to the second rotary joint, the first and second rotary axes being substantially parallel to each other.

The mutual positioning of the members and the use of the swivel joints make it easy and cheap to realize a support arm that is easy to operate and that can work stably even with large and heavy screens.

A rotary joint is here understood to mean a joint that connects two members and makes it possible for the two members to rotate mutually, that is to say for two straight members which are mutually extended in rotation about each other about the longitudinal axis through the two members. This is in contrast to a hinge joint that allows two members to hinge relative to each other.

In an embodiment of the carrying arm, the second member is substantially U-shaped. The rotation axes of the rotary joints can hereby be parallel in a simple manner. Both legs of the U do not have to be the same length.

In an embodiment of the carrying arm, the first member is substantially L-shaped.

In an embodiment of the carrying arm, the second mounting part is connected to a third member and the third member is coupled to the second rotary joint.

In an embodiment of the carrying arm, the third member is substantially L-shaped.

In an embodiment of the carrying arm, the third member is connected to the second rotary joint via a third rotary joint. Due to this construction, the screen can be placed in almost any viewing position and the screen can be easily moved using the support arm.

In one embodiment of the support arm, the members comprise tube parts, the pivot joints comprising inner tube parts alloyed in the tube parts, wherein in particular the inner tube parts are alloyed by means of an external ring for forming a stop for one end of a tube part of a member, wherein the stop is oblique with the acute angle against the inner tube surface and the end face of the pipe sections is oblique with the acute angle at the outer surface, preferably the outer ring being a plastic ring, such as of nylon. In one embodiment, the pipe parts are simply iron pipe parts. This allows the suspension arm to be stable and inexpensive and virtually play-free.

In one embodiment of the support arm, inner tube members are further alloyed by bearing members at the ends of the inner tube members that extend into the tube members, the bearing members extending beyond the outer wall of the inner tube members against the inner wall of the outer tube members, and are preferably of plastic such as nylon.

In one embodiment of the support arm, the pivot joints further include clamping members for pivotally clamping the stop of the outer ring to the end of the tubular members.

In one embodiment of the wishbone, the first joint is coupled to an actuator that pivots the second member about the first axis of rotation in operation, the second joint is coupled to a second actuator that in rotation rotates or pivots about the second axis of rotation , and when the first and second actuator are activated, the second mounting part moves relative to the first mounting part. Due to the above construction, actuators, preferably equipped with electric motors, can be easily installed and the suspension arm can therefore be operated and adjusted, such as by means of a remote control. A control unit is furthermore present there.

The invention further relates to a support arm, in particular for a flat display device such as an LCD screen or plasma screen, comprising a first and second member with a first and second longitudinal axis and a first joint connecting the members at an angle, the first member being coupled to a mounting part for fixing the arm, the first joint comprising a first corner part having a first and second end, the first end being rotatably about the longitudinal axis of the first member coupled to the first member and the second end being rotatably about the longitudinal axis of the second member coupled to the second member, and the first and second ends are coupled to a first and second drive unit respectively, which are connected to the first and second members, respectively, for rotating the first corner member about the longitudinal axis of the first member when the first drive unit is actuated and rotating the second member about its longitudinal axis upon actuation of the second drive unit.

In one embodiment, this wishbone comprises a third member with a longitudinal axis and a second joint connecting the second member and the third member, the second joint comprising a second corner part with a first and second end, the first end being rotatable about the the longitudinal axis of the second member is coupled to the second member and the second end is rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the third member is coupled to the third member, and the first and second ends are coupled to a third and fourth drive unit respectively which are connected to the first and second members, respectively, for rotating the second corner member about the longitudinal axis of the second member when the third drive unit is actuated and rotating the third member about its longitudinal axis when the fourth drive unit is actuated. A simple and stable adjustment can be made possible by connecting rotary joints to each other by means of a corner part. For example, by making an angle part (preferably 90 degrees) of pipes and the two ends of the corner part either bearing in pipe ends or receiving bearings in pipe parts, two turning joints are easily created at a loading right angle.

In an embodiment of this carrying arm, the third member comprises a frame mounting part for mounting a frame, in particular for mounting a flat display device such as an LCD screen or a plasma screen. For example, the support arm according to the invention can easily be folded flat between the wall and the flat screen.

In an embodiment of this support arm, the mounting part and the first, second and, if present, the third member and frame mounting part, are located in an initial position substantially in an exit plane.

In one embodiment of this support arm, it further comprises a hinge connected to the first member and the attachment member for hingedly coupling the first member to the attachment member, allowing angular adjustment of the longitudinal axis of the first member in the exit plane.

In one embodiment of this support arm, it further comprises an actuator between the mounting part and the first member, in particular if present between the mounting part and the hinge, the actuator comprising a first actuator part connected to the mounting part and a second actuator part connected is movable with the first member or with the hinge, and the first and second actuator part relative to each other along a displacement axis.

In an embodiment of this support arm, the displacement axis is substantially parallel to the exit plane, and preferably extends substantially in the exit plane.

In one embodiment of this suspension arm, the drive units are further coupled to the rotary joints by means of gears, the gearing wherein the gearing is provided with a drive shaft in line with the longitudinal axis and having a first ring with internal gearing thereon and which is connected to the one tube part, an eccentric gear with a toothing which is at least one tooth smaller than the internal toothing of the first ring and the toothing of which engages the internal toothing of the first ring and which is provided with carrier parts, and a second ring which is connected to the other tube part and which is provided with driving parts co-acting with the driving parts of the gear wheel, whereby the first and second rings rotate relative to each other when the electric motor is operating.

It will be clear that the characteristics of this suspension arm and the aforementioned suspension arm can be combined with each other.

The invention further relates to a pivot joint for a carrying arm, comprising a first tube part with a longitudinal axis, a second tube part which extends rotatably alloyed in the first tube part and provided with an electric motor mounted in the first or second tube part, wherein the first tube part and second tube part are mutually coupled by means of a transmission, the transmission being provided with a drive shaft, driven by the electric motor and in line with the longitudinal axis and with thereon a first ring with internal teeth and connected to the one tube part, an eccentric gear with a tooth that is at least one tooth smaller than the internal teeth of the first ring and the toothing of which engages the internal toothing of the first ring and which is provided with carrier parts, and a second ring which is connected to the other tube part and which is provided with driving parts co-acting with the driving parts of the gear wheel, whereby the first and second rings rotate relative to each other when the electric motor is operated. The swivel joint can easily be made in tubes, is able to transfer or generate large forces, is virtually play-free and keeps its position at rest.

In an embodiment of this rotary joint, the first ring and the second ring are thereby mounted on the transmission drive shaft.

In one embodiment of that pivot joint, the gear wheel is provided with pins as flights that extend into holes in a second ring, which holes have a larger diameter than the diameter of the pins. As a result, the first and second rings can be easily interconnected functionally and operationally.

It will be clear that the various aspects mentioned in this patent application can be combined and can each individually qualify for a divisional patent application.

Brief description of the figures

The attached figures show various embodiments of a carrying arm and a rotary joint according to the invention, in which:

Fig. 1 a first embodiment of a suspension arm according to the invention; Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of a control device for the suspension arm of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view of an electric motor with transmission for the suspension arm of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front view of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 shows an alternative embodiment of a suspension arm according to the invention;

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of the support arm of FIG. 6 in a tilted and advanced position;

Fig. 8 the support arm of Fig. 7 is tilted to the other side; Fig. 9 an alternative rotary joint.

Description of embodiments

Fig. 1 shows a support arm 1, which here is provided with a flat LCD screen 2, which is indicated by dotted lines. The carrying arm 1 is provided with a first member 3 and a second member 2, which respectively have a first longitudinal axis L1 and a second longitudinal axis L2. The first paragraph 3 and the second paragraph 2 are mutually coupled by means of two rotational joints 4, which connect the two paragraphs 3, 2 at an angle. Paragraphs 2, 3 are connected here at an almost right angle. The first paragraph 3 is coupled to a fixing part 5, here a fixing part for fixing the arm 1 to or against a wall. Alternatively, the support arm 1 can also be mounted on a floor or on or in a piece of furniture. A fastening part will be adapted to such a construction. The design of such a fastening part is simple for a skilled person. The members in this description are preferably round tubes.

The first pair of joints 4, which connect the first section 3 and the second section 2 mutually around the corner, make it possible to perform a rotation about the longitudinal axis L1. This rotation is indicated by R1. In addition, the two joints 4 allow rotation about the axis L2. This rotation is represented by R2.

The first pair of joints 4 has a corner part 6, here an elbow, which connects the pair of joints. The corner part is provided with a first end 7 and a second end 8. The first end 7 is coupled to the first member by means of a transmission 25 and is driven by a drive 9, here an electric motor, which is here also connected to the first member 3. In this embodiment, the first paragraph 3 is designed as a hollow tube. The first end 7 is rotatably mounted in this tube by means of bearings 27 and forms the first rotary joint. The second end 8 of the corner part 6 is coupled by means of transmission 26 to the second paragraph 2 and the coupling is driven by a drive unit 10, also an electric motor, which here is also connected to the second paragraph 2. Also the second paragraph 2 is in this embodiment designed as a tube, for example a round tube. The second end 8 of corner element 6 is also supported here by means of bearings 28 in the tube and thus forms the second rotary joint. This allows the tube of the second paragraph 2 to rotate about the longitudinal axis 2, which rotational movement is indicated by R2 as mentioned earlier. The second paragraph 2 has been converted, here at an angle of 90 ° and has a second part with a longitudinal axis L3. The end of that part of the second paragraph 2 is provided with two pivotal joints 12, which couple the end of the second paragraph 2 at an angle to a third member 11. The second pair of joints 12 is almost the same as the first two joints. 4.

The second pair of swivel joints 12 are mutually connected by means of an angle part 13, here also designed as an elbow of pipe parts, with a first end 14 and a second end 15. The third paragraph 11 has a longitudinal axis, which is indicated by L4. The first end 14 of corner part 13 is coupled by means of a coupling 27 to the second paragraph 2 and the coupling is driven by a drive unit 16, here again an electric motor. The second end 15 of corner part 13 is coupled by means of a transmission 28 to the fourth paragraph 11 and here also the coupling is driven by an electric motor 17. Driven by the drive units 16 and 17, the two joints can make rotation about longitudinal axis L3 , this rotational movement is indicated by R3, and the two joints can make a rotation about longitudinal axis L4, this rotational movement is indicated by R4.

In this embodiment, the third paragraph 11, like the other members, is designed as a pipe part, preferably a round hollow pipe part. The first end 14 of corner part 13 is rotatably supported by bearings 29 in the tube part, the converted tube of the second paragraph 2, which converted tube part has a longitudinal axis L3. As a result, a third rotary joint is formed and the third member can rotate about this longitudinal axis L3, which rotational movement is indicated by R3 in the figures. The corner part 13 with its second end 15 is rotatably supported by bearing 30 in the pipe part of the third member 11 and forms the fourth rotary joint so that the pipe part can rotate (R4) about its longitudinal axis L4.

In this embodiment a mounting part 18 is mounted at the end of the third paragraph 11, with which the LCD screen 2 can be attached to the arm. Other methods of attachment are of course also possible and conceivable for the skilled person.

The first paragraph 1 is here connected at one end by means of a hinge 19 to an actuator 20, which is provided with the aforementioned mounting parts 5. The hinge allows an angle adjustment of the first paragraph 3, in particular of the longitudinal axis LI thereof. . This angle adjustment is represented by R5 in figure 1. The angle adjustment is possible indicated by a drive unit 24 in the figure, which will be driven in an embodiment by an electric motor.

The actuator 20 allows adjustment of the arm 1 along the longitudinal axis L5. In practice this will be a height adjustment. For this purpose, the actuator 20 comprises an outer tube 22 with an inner tube 21 inside. In one embodiment, the inner tube 21 is provided with external screw thread, as a result of which it actually forms a spindle, and the outer tube 22 is provided with a spindle guide, which is not further in the figure. indicated. By means of a drive unit 23, here an electric motor, the inner tube or spindle 21 is rotated via an angle transmission, whereby the outer tube will experience a linear displacement along the longitudinal axis L5. When the support arm 1 is fixed to a wall by means of the fastening parts 5, for example, the screen 2 can be moved up and down.

The swivel joints in the suspension arm are formed by tubes mounted in each other. An operable support arm can be realized by coupling the tubes to each other by means of a coupling and subsequently driving the coupling, for instance by means of an electric motor.

Figure 2 shows the control of the suspension arm of Figure 1, the components of Figure 1 already shown being shown in broken lines for clarity.

The control device 32 is here provided with a wireless receiver 34, with which instructions for moving the carrying arm can be given by means of a remote control 33. The carrying arm is further provided with an electronic spirit level 31, which gives signals to the control device 32. In operation, a person operating the support arm, for example for moving a flat LCD or plasma screen attached to the support arm, will instruct the remote control 33 to move the screen forward, or to tilt or tilt the screen. display. These instructions via the remote control 32 will be wirelessly sent to the receiver unit 34 of the control unit 32. The control unit 32 will then calculate which motors to start and then start these motors. The digital spirit level 31 will record while moving whether the screen is still horizontal. If not, a signal will be output to the control unit 32. In practice, the digital level reading will be sent to the control unit 32 under all circumstances. Based on the values ​​of the digital spirit level, the control unit 32 will calculate the position of the screen and, if it is no longer horizontal, the control unit 32 will send a signal to the electric motor 24, so that the position of the support arm can be adjusted , such that the screen again hangs horizontally.

Figures 3 to 5 show the electric motor, indicated in figures 1 and 2 with the numbers 9, 10, 16 and 17, provided with the coupling, in figures 1 and 2 indicated with numbers 25, 26, 27 and 28, for adjusting the rotational joint or rotary joint. In figure 3 the longitudinal axis is indicated with L. This is the representation of the rotary axes indicated in figure 1 with LI, L2, L3 and L4.

The coupling 25, 26, 27, 28 is driven by means of a toothing 49 by a toothing 42 of the drive shaft of the electric motor 9, 10, 16, 17.

The coupling is provided with a first ring 41, provided with an internal toothing 43 (see figure 4), then a gear wheel 45 provided with a toothing 54 (see again figure 4) and a second ring 40. The first ring 41, gearwheel 45 and second ring 41 are mounted on a common shaft, the first ring 41 is mounted on the shaft by means of bearing 44, gearwheel 45 is eccentrically mounted on the shaft by means of eccentric or cam 48 and the second ring 40 is mounted on end 50 of the shaft by means of bearing 52.

Figure 4 shows a front view of the transmission, with part of the ring 40 removed. It can be seen in this figure that the toothing 54 of the gear wheel 45 has a toothing which differs little (usually only a few teeth) from the internal toothing 43 of the ring 41. The gear wheel 45 has holes 46 with pins 47 therein. which intervene in holes 51 in the ring 40. The pins 47 fit into the holes 46 of the gear wheel 45, and the diameter of the holes 51 in the ring 40 is greater than the thickness of the pins 47. Figure 5, the so-called exploded view, clearly shows this. .

In Figure 5, the transmission 25, 26, 27, 28 of Figures 1 and 2 is shown in disassembled condition. It can be seen from this that the toothed shaft 42 of the electric motor engages a geared drive shaft 49 of the transmission. Furthermore, this drive shaft is provided with an eccentric or eccentric cam 48 and an end shaft part 50. The first ring 41 is here mounted on a bearing 44 on the drive shaft. As clearly shown here, the gear wheel 45 is provided with holes 46 in which pins 47 extend. These pins 47 extend further into openings 51 of the ring 40. The ring 40 is mounted on the end 50 of the transmission drive shaft by the bearing 52 and held on this shaft by means of sealing ring 53. The cam lies on the inside of the hole in gear wheel 45 so that part of the toothing of gear wheel 45 engages the internal toothing 43 of the first ring 41.

The operation of the coupling 25, 26, 27, 28 is as follows. The toothed drive shaft 42 transmits the rotation of the electric motor to the shaft of the coupling by means of the toothing 49, whereby this shaft will rotate. The gear wheel 45 is mounted on the eccentric or cam 48 and will therefore perform an eccentric rotation. The cam is designed in such a way that the gear wheel will thereby always run in a part of the inner toothing 43 of the ring 41. The rotation of the gear wheel 45 will then be transferred to the ring 40 by means of the pins 47.

In the application as outlined in Figure 1, the first ring 41 is connected inside the outer tube 2, 3, 11 of Figure 1. The second ring 40 is connected, for example, to one end of the inner tube, which is indicated by figure number in Figure 1 6, 7, 14, 15.

Figure 6 shows an alternative configuration for a suspension arm according to the invention. The carrying arm 1 is herein provided with an L-shaped first member 3, which is mounted here rotatably about rotation axis L5. Rotating joint 4 allows a rotation R1 about rotation axis L1. The second paragraph 2 is U-shaped and has a second rotary joint at its end which allows a rotation R3 about rotation axis L3. Rotation axes L1 and L3 are almost parallel. These axes of rotation make it possible to tilt, for example, a flat screen mounted on the support arm about one of the axes L1 or L3. In addition, the screen of, for example, a wall to which the support arm is attached can be moved by opposite rotation about both axes of rotation. The screen will not change orientation, that is to say the angle between L4 and L3 will hardly change at all.

Rotating the swivel joint about axis L4 allows the display to tilt about an axis parallel to L4. This makes a screen fully adjustable for a viewer.

Swivel joints 12 are interconnected by an elbow piece 13, which here has an angle of 90 degrees. Axes L3 and L4 therefore have an angle of 90 degrees. In this embodiment, the adjustment about hinge 19 by means of, for example, an electric motor such as actuator 24 as described in figure 1 is not necessary.

Figure 7 shows an embodiment of a support arm for attachment to, for example, a wall. In this embodiment, the positions of the swivel joints are chosen slightly differently than in figure 6. One leg of the U-shaped member 2 is shorter than the other leg, as a result of which the second swivel joint, indicated here with number 80, has previously been placed in the suspension arm . In this embodiment, an L-shaped member is provided from the second rotary joint, with a third rotary joint 81 at the end and a further L-shaped member to which the fixing part 18 is attached. A flat screen is attached to the mounting part 18 here. The wishbone is shown here in a position rotated about axis L5, L1 and L3.

By installing more members and swivel joints, the displacement distance from the wall can be further increased, as long as the axes of rotation are parallel to L5, L1 and L3, so that the screen remains horizontal.

Furthermore, the screen can be tilted about axis L4. Figure 8 shows the support arm of Figure 7 tilted about this axis of rotation L4.

Figure 9 shows an embodiment for a rotary hinge or rotary joint for, for example, the suspension arm of Figures 7 and 8. In this, an inner tube 90 is partly included in an outer tube 91. The outer tube has a limited length, but will in practice be used with a suspension arm according to Figure 7 or 8 have a greater length, and may even be a leg of a corner piece. A ring 92 is arranged around the outer tube 91, preferably of synthetic material such as nylon, on which an end of the outer tube is mounted. To provide a backlash-free alloy, the rim 93 of the ring 92 is oblique as shown in the figure. The end of the outer tube 91 also has a bevel 94 to match the bevel of the rim 93 of the ring 92. For further stability and bearing, here the end of the inner tube 90 which extends into the outer tube 91 is provided with an insert 95, an edge 96 of which extends beyond the outer wall of the inner tube 90 to the inner wall of the outer tube 91. By means of a tie rod 97 the outer tube 91 is pulled onto the bevel 93 of the plastic ring 92. For automation, the outer tube 91 is further provided here with an electric motor 98, the drive shaft of which extends through the insert and provided with a gear 99 then engages in a (curved) rack 101 on the inside of the inner tube 90. It is of course also conceivable that this reverse configuration, that is, to mount the electric motor in the inner tube and to mount the rack (or a ring with internal teeth) in the outer tube.

Optionally, it is also possible, for example, in the embodiment of Figures 7 and 8 to mount a torsion spring or other biased spring at joint 81 that compensates for the weight of a display or monitor.

It is to be understood that the above description is included to illustrate the operation of preferred embodiments of the invention, and not to limit the scope of the invention. Based on the above explanation, many skilled workers will be aware of many variations which fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention