Integrated device holder assembly and methods of use and manufacture thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9457731-B2
Application number	US-201414287905-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2014
Priority date	May 27, 2014
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

Some embodiments are directed to a holder assembly that includes a lower covering portion that covers and thereby retains a lowermost portion of a mobile electronic device, the lower covering portion being integrated with a rear of a vehicle seat. The holder assembly also includes an upper support portion that supports a top portion of the mobile electronic device, the upper support portion being integrated with the rear of the vehicle seat. The upper support portion and lower covering portion are configured to cooperatively: 1) hold the mobile electronic device in the orientation to enable a passenger in a rear compartment of the vehicle to view the screen of the mobile electronic device upon the mobile electronic device being manually engaged with the holder assembly, and 2) enable the manual disengagement of the mobile electronic device from the holder assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A holder assembly, which is integrated with a rear of a vehicle seat, for holding a mobile electronic device in an orientation to enable a passenger in a rear compartment of the vehicle to view a screen of the mobile electronic device, the holder assembly comprising:
a lower covering portion that covers and thereby retains a lowermost portion of the mobile electronic device, the lower covering portion being integrated with the rear of the vehicle seat; and
an upper portion for supporting a top portion of the mobile electronic device, the upper support portion being integrated with the rear of the vehicle seat, the upper support portion and lower covering portion being configured to cooperatively: 1) hold the mobile electronic device in the orientation to enable the passenger in the rear compartment of the vehicle to view the screen of the mobile electronic device upon the mobile electronic device being manually engaged with the holder assembly, and 2) enable the manual disengagement of the mobile electronic device from the holder assembly.

2. The holder assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle seat includes a seat back and a head rest, the lower covering portion includes a seat back trim panel that is disposed at a rear surface of the seat back and that defines a device pocket for covering the lowermost portion of the mobile electronic device, and the upper support portion includes a clamp member having arm portions at horizontally spaced ends and a nose portion between the arm portions that contacts an upper surface of the mobile electronic device, the upper support member also including a pair of elongated vertically extending elastic members, each of the elastic members including an intermediate portion that contacts one of the arm portions of the clamp member to bias the clamp member toward a rear surface of the head rest to thereby impart a frictional force between the mobile electronic device and the rear surface of the head rest.

3. The holder assembly according to claim 2 , wherein each of the arm portions of the clamp member defines a hook-shaped portion that facilitates engagement with the corresponding elastic member, and the nose portion of the clamp member is formed in the shape of a compound curve to enhance contact with the upper surface of the mobile electronic device.

4. The holder assembly according to claim 3 , wherein each elastic member includes a base that is secured to the rear surface of the head rest and a plurality of elastic loops opposing the base, each loop being configured to removably receive one of the hook-shaped portions of the clamp member, the loops being vertically aligned between the elastic members to enable the clamp member to be disposed and held at different vertical positions along the rear surface of the head rest.

5. The holder assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle seat includes a seat back and a head rest, the lower covering portion includes a seat back trim panel that is disposed at a rear surface of the seat back and that defines a device pocket for covering the lowermost portion of the mobile electronic device, and the upper support portion includes an elongated elastic member that extends horizontally relative to a screen of the mobile electronic device, the elastic member including ends that are secured to a rear surface of the head rest such that an intermediate portion of the elastic member contacts a portion of the mobile electronic device across an upper surface thereof to bias the mobile electronic device toward the rear surface of the head rest.

6. The holder assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle seat includes a seat back and a head rest, the lower covering portion includes a seat back trim panel that is disposed at a rear surface of the seat back and that defines a device pocket for covering the lowermost portion of the mobile electronic device, and the upper support portion includes a pair of elongated elastic members that each extend at an angle relative to a screen of the mobile electronic device, each of the elastic members including ends that are secured to a rear surface of the head rest such that an intermediate portion of the elastic member contacts a portion of the mobile electronic device adjacent an upper corner thereof to bias the mobile electronic device toward the rear surface of the head rest.

7. The holder assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle seat includes a seat back and a head rest, the lower covering portion includes a seat back trim panel that is disposed at a rear surface of the seat back and that defines a device pocket for covering the lowermost portion of the mobile electronic device, and the upper support portion includes a plurality of elongated elastic members arranged in pairs and extending at an angle relative to a screen of the mobile electronic device, each of the elastic members including ends that are secured to a rear surface of the head rest such that an intermediate portion of the elastic member contacts a portion of the mobile electronic device adjacent an upper corner thereof to bias the mobile electronic device toward the rear surface of the head rest, each of the pairs of elastic members being vertically spaced from other pairs of elastic members to enable engagement with mobile electronic devices of different sizes.

8. The holder assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle seat includes a seat back and a head rest, the lower covering portion includes a seat back trim panel that is disposed at a rear surface of the seat back and that defines a device pocket for covering the lowermost portion of the mobile electronic device, and the upper support portion includes an elastic member with ends secured to the seat back such that an intermediate portion of the elastic member contacts an upper surface of the mobile electronic device to bias the mobile electronic device toward and into the device pocket.

9. The holder assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle seat includes a seat back and a head rest, the lower covering portion includes a seat back trim panel that is disposed at a rear surface of the seat back and that defines a device pocket for covering the lowermost portion of the mobile electronic device, and the upper support portion includes a head rest trim panel that is disposed at a rear surface of the head rest, the head rest trim panel defining a plurality of pairs of slits that engage upper corners of the mobile electronic device, each of the pairs of slits being vertically spaced from other pairs of slits to enable engagement with mobile electronic devices of different sizes.

10. The holder assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle seat includes a seat back and a head rest, the lower covering portion is constituted by a cavity defined in an upper surface of the seat back, and the upper support portion is constituted by a rear surface of the head rest against which an upper portion of the mobile electronic device rests.

11. A seat assembly for use with a vehicle and a mobile electronic device that is operable by a passenger in a rear compartment of the vehicle, the seat assembly comprising;
a vehicle seat defining a rear;
a holder assembly, which is integrated with the rear of the vehicle seat, for holding the mobile electronic device in an orientation to enable the passenger in the rear compartment of the vehicle to view the screen of the mobile electronic device, the holder assembly including:
a lower covering portion that covers and thereby retains a lowermost portion of the mobile electronic device, the lower covering portion being integrated with the rear of the vehicle seat; and
an upper support portion for su

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Narayanan Ganesh
• Blatseas Spyridon G
• Lindsay Derek Shane
• Burghardt Ross L
• Montijo Fernando
• Pagano Brian T

Classifications

• B60R2011/0015

  Back-rests · CPC title

• B60N3/103

  detachable · CPC title

• B60R7/14

  for supporting weapons · CPC title

• B60R11/02 Primary

  for radio sets, television sets, telephones, or the like; Arrangement of controls thereof · CPC title

• B60R2011/0017

  Head-rests · CPC title