US 5,842,672 · Granted 1998-12-01
The Ergonomic Arm Patent That Made Desk Monitors Move Like Magic
Imagine a robotic arm on your desk that holds your monitor and keyboard at any angle you want—and stays exactly where you position it without slipping. This patent describes a system with pivot joints and special gas springs that let office workers adjust their screens and keyboards up, down, and sideways with just a light push, while keeping everything locked in place.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a multi-jointed support arm system that combines pivot points along vertical, horizontal, and elevational axes with friction washers and nitrogen gas springs to hold a flat panel display or keyboard tray in a user-selected position. What's protected here is the specific engineering of how these joints, springs, and friction components work together to allow smooth repositioning while maintaining stable positioning without drift or requiring constant force to hold the setup.
Why it matters
This patent became foundational to the ergonomic office furniture industry, particularly for companies designing monitor arms and desk accessories. By solving the practical problem of letting office workers easily adjust their screens without constant manual effort or equipment slipping, it enabled a whole category of height-adjustable and articulating desk solutions that became standard in modern workplaces concerned with reducing strain injuries and improving comfort.
Real-world use
Every time an office worker slides their monitor arm up or down with one finger and it stays locked in the new position, they're relying on the engineering locked down in this patent.
Original USPTO abstract
Multi-jointed and pivoted support system for support of a flat panel video display and/or keyboard tray, incorporating a plurality of pivot points providing for pivotal motion of one or more components about a plurality of vertical, horizontal and elevational axis. Support arms having elevational pivot assemblies, including plastic friction washers and nitrogen gas springs which offer elevational arm control requiring constant and predetermined positioning effort on the part of the video display operator and keyboard operator.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,842,672
- Filing date
- 1996-06-07
- Grant date
- 1998-12-01
- Assignee
- Ergotron, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- SWEERE; HARRY C., GONNERMAN; MICHAEL D., VOELLER; DONALD M.
- CPC class
- F16M11/2064
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