VEHICLE CUP HOLDER CELL PHONE MOUNT
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle cup holder cell phone mount has a base with a downwardly and inwardly tapering surface of rotation around a vertical axis. A pier stands up from a top of the base and a cell phone mounting bracket is pivotally mounted to the pier. The cell phone mounting bracket has adjustable jaws to fit cell phones of varying widths. The jaws always define an opening for a cell phone power/communications cable. One or more of a plurality of shells may be selectively assembled to the base. Each shell has a tapering surface of rotation around the axis. The shells are of different sizes. The user assembles from zero to (n) shells to the base, Russian-doll fashion, so as to optimally fit a particular vehicle cup holder. The user then wedges the assembly into the vehicle cup holder such that compressive force between the outermost tapering surface and the cup holder side wall securely holds the cell phone mount in place in the vehicle cup holder.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. (canceled)
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2. (canceled)
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3. (canceled)
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4. (canceled)
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5. (canceled)
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6. (canceled)
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7. (canceled)
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8. (canceled)
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9. (canceled)
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10. Apparatus for mounting a cell phone to a vehicle cup holder, the apparatus comprising:
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a base, a first outer surface of the base formed as a surface of rotation around an axis and being tapered downwardly and radially inwardly; a top lid forming a top of the base, the top lid having a top surface; a mounting pier upwardly extending from the top surface of the base; a cell phone mounting bracket rotatably affixed to the mounting pier and having first and second jaws, the first jaw having a first u-shaped channel with a first upper segment and the second jaw having a second u-shaped channel with a second upper segment disposed in parallel to the first upper segment, the second jaw movable in respect of the first jaw so that a width, taken perpendicularly to the axis, between the first upper segment and the second upper segment, may be selectable by a user so as to fit a width of a cell phone received by the cell phone mounting bracket, means for affixing the second jaw to the first jaw in any of a plurality of positions; the first u-shaped channel further having a first lower segment and the second u-shaped channel further having a second lower segment, the first and second lower segments being aligned with each other and disposed in a plane perpendicular to the base axis, the first and second lower segments adapted to hold a lower end of the cell phone. - View Dependent Claims (11, 18, 19)
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12. A method for mounting a cell phone to a substantially cylindrical vehicle cup holder having a radius, the method comprising the steps of:
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affixing a cell phone mounting bracket to a top of a base, the base formed around an axis and having a first outer surface which is downwardly and inwardly tapered; providing (n) hollow, sequentially sized shells, each shell each being of a size that is different from any of the remaining ones of the (n) shells, (n) being an integer greater than or equal to 2, the hollow shells including at least first and second shells, each shell having an inner surface and having an outer surface formed as a surface of rotation around the axis, the respective outer surfaces of the shells being downwardly and inwardly tapered, the inner surface of a first shell of the (n) shells affixable to the first outer surface of the base, the inner surface of the (m+1)th shell being affixable to the outer surface of the (m)th shell, in being any of a range of integers between 2 and n, inclusive; ascertaining a radius of the vehicle cup holder; if the radius of the vehicle cup holder falls within a first predetermined range, press-fitting the first outer surface of the base to an inner wall of the vehicle cup holder; if the radius of the vehicle cup holder is greater than the first predetermined range; selecting one of then shells whose outer surface has a range of radii from the axis that includes a radius that best matches the radius of the cup holder, the selected shell being the sth shell, s being a value between 1 and n; affixing the inner surface of the first shell to the outer surface of the base; if the first shell is the sth shell, press-fitting the outer surface of the first shell to the inner wall of the vehicle cup holder; if the first shell is not the sth shell, then, for each of p shells, 2≤
p≤
s, affixing the inner surface of the pth shell to the outer surface of the (p−
1th) shell, incrementing p, and repeating the last said step of affixing, until p=s;if s is greater than 1, press-fitting the outer surface of the sth shell to the inner wall of the vehicle cup holder; and mounting the cell phone to the cell phone mounting bracket. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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14. (canceled)
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15. (canceled)
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16. (canceled)
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17. (canceled)
Specification