Desk and display stand with height and depth adjustment

• US 8,051,782 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2008
• Issued: 11/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ergotron Incorporated (Melrose Industries Plc)
• Original Assignee: Anthro Corporation (Melrose Industries Plc)
• Inventors: Linder, Steven E., Nethken, Jerry Lee, Griffith, George W., Kumanchik, Joseph L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen; Jose V
• Application Number:
  US12/277,604
• Publication Number:
  US 20090133609A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,078 Days
• Field of Search: 108/50.01, 108/50.02, 108/23, 108/50.11, 312/223.3, 312/223.6, 312/195, 297/217.3, 297/170, 297/172, 400/681, 400/682, 361/679.01, 361/679.05, 361/679.06, 361/379.2
• US Class Current: 108/50.01
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 2083/006 having an incorporated display screen
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 2097/006 Computer holding devices
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 21/02 with vertical adjustable parts
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 21/03 with substantially horizontally extensible or adjustable parts other than drawers, e.g. leaves

Abstract

An ergonomic desk includes an adjustable display stand supported on a table or other support platform of the desk. The display stand is adapted to support one or more display monitors thereon and to provide depth and height adjustment for the display monitors via electronic controls. The height and tilt of the table may also be adjusted using electronic controls.

Claims

1. A table including an adjustable display stand, comprising:

a support platform having one edge and including an opening therein;

a sled movably mounted to the support platform for movement along a first path toward and away the edge to adjustably position the sled from a user of the table, the sled extending at least partly under the support platform;

an electronically-controllable sled drive operably interposed between the sled and the support platform for moving the sled relative to the support platform along the first path;

a mast supported on the sled and extending upwardly therefrom, the mast movable with the sled along the first path, at least a portion of the sled or the mast, or both, extending through the opening in the support platform for movement within the opening, the mast including a base member securely supported on the sled and a moving member movable upwardly relative to the base member along a second path transversely of the first path;

a display mount supported on the moving member of the mast and adapted for mounting a display monitor thereon; and

an electronically-controllable mast drive operably interposed between the base member and moving member of the mast for driving the moving member relative to the base member to adjust a height position of the display mount above the support platform.

2. The table of claim 1, further comprising a user interface coupled to the mast drive and the sled drive for allowing a user to selectively adjust the position of the display mount.

3. The table of claim 2, wherein the user interface includes a first toggle switch for adjusting the sled and a second toggle switch for adjusting the mast.

4. The table of claim 2, wherein the user interface includes a controller, a memory for storing multiple user-defined positions of the display mount, and a keypad for instructing the controller to store the user-defined positions in the memory and for recalling the user-defined positions from memory, the controller operable to adjust the mast and the sled to move the display mount to a selected one of the user-defined positions when recalled via the keypad.

5. The table of claim 1, wherein the sled is slidably mounted on the support platform via a set of extension slides.

6. The table of claim 1, wherein the mast drive includes a mast drive motor mounted to an underside of the sled.

7. The table of claim 1, wherein the support platform is mounted on an adjustable base assembly, the base assembly driven for selectively raising and lowering the support platform and the display stand.

8. The table of claim 7, wherein the support platform is rotatably mounted on the base assembly and driven for selectively tilting the support platform and the display stand.

9. The table of claim 1, wherein the support platform includes:

a first table section positioned in front of the mast, at least a portion of which is open for use as a work surface; and

a second table section in which the opening is formed.

10. The table of claim 1, wherein the display mount includes an elongate boom supported on the movable member of the mast and extending laterally therefrom, the boom including multiple mounting holes spaced apart along the boom to which display mounting brackets may be attached at selected positions along the boom for supporting multiple display monitors thereon in side-by-side relation.

11. The table of claim 1, further comprising a guard extending beneath the support platform at least partly around and in front of a path of the sled, the guard preventing the sled from hitting a user'"'"'s knees when the sled is moved toward the user.

12. The table of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the sled drive is located below the support platform.

13. The table of claim 1, further comprising:

a backlight for variably illuminating a region behind the display stand;

a photosensor mounted to the movable member of the mast via a flexible neck for positioning the photosensor at a desired position in front of a display monitor when mounted on the display stand, the photosensor thereby movable in tandem with the movable member of the mast and the sled to maintain the desired position of the photosensor relative to the display monitor; and

an illumination control system coupled to the photosensor and the backlight for controlling luminous output of the backlight in response to changes in the display of the display monitor.

14. A desk-mountable adjustable display stand, comprising:

a sled including a mounting structure mountable to a support platform of a desk for sliding movement along a first path toward and away from an edge of the support platform to adjustably position the sled from a user of the desk;

a mast supported on the sled and extending upwardly from the sled, the mast including a base member attached to the sled and a moving member movable relative to the base member along a second path transversely to the first path;

a display mount supported on the moving member of the mast and adapted for mounting a display monitor thereon;

a mast drive coupled to the mast for driving the moving member along the second path, thereby adjusting a height position of the display mount;

a sled drive coupled to the sled for driving the sled along the first path relative to the support platform, thereby adjusting a depth position of the display mount with respect to the support platform; and

a user interface for controlling the mast drive and the sled drive for adjusting the height and depth positions of the display mount.

15. The display stand of claim 14, further comprising a tray with a set of extension slides mounted thereon, the sled slidably mounted on the extension slides, the tray adapted to be attached to the support platform.

16. The display stand of claim 14, wherein the mast drive includes a mast drive motor mounted to an underside of the sled.

17. The display stand of claim 14, wherein the display mount includes an elongate boom supported on the movable member of the mast and extending laterally therefrom, the boom including multiple mounting holes spaced apart along the boom to which display mounting brackets may be attached at selected positions along the boom for supporting multiple display monitors thereon in side-by-side relation.

18. The display stand of claim 14, further comprising:

a first hinge interposed between the display mount and the mast for pivoting a display about a substantially horizontal axis; and

a second hinge attached to the display mount for pivoting a portion of the display mount relative to the mast about a substantially vertical axis.

19. The display stand of claim 14, further comprising a controller coupled to the user interface, the sled drive and the mast drive, the controller including a processor and a memory operatively connected to the processor, the processor and memory cooperating for moving the sled and the moveable member of the mast to predefined positions.

20. The display stand of claim 14, wherein the display mount includes a hinged mounting bracket on which a display monitor may be supported, the mounting bracket movable to allow the display monitor to pivot relative to the mast in the event that the display monitor encounters an object when the moving member of the mast is moved toward the sled.