US 6,554,238 · Granted 2003-04-29
The Air-Spring Monitor Arm That Lets Your Screen Float
Imagine a monitor stand with a robotic arm that uses air pressure instead of springs to hold your screen at exactly the angle you want. The arm can rotate a full 360 degrees and move up and down smoothly, then lock in place so your display stays put no matter how many times you bump the desk.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a mounting system where a visual display unit connects to a support arm through a combination of mechanical joints - specifically a hinge pin, a pin pivot, and a ball-and-socket joint. What's protected here is the specific arrangement of using an air spring to dampen and control vertical movement while allowing 360-degree rotation of the base and smooth repositioning of the screen without it drooping or drifting.
Why it matters
This patent locks down a practical solution to a universal office problem: keeping a monitor stable and adjustable without constant readjustment. By using air pressure instead of mechanical springs alone, the design offers smoother motion and more reliable dampening, which became valuable as flat-screen monitors grew larger and heavier. Any manufacturer building an articulating display arm with this specific air-spring dampening system would need to license or invent around this patent.
Real-world use
Every time an office worker tilts their monitor up, down, or spins it around without the screen sagging or wobbling back, they're benefiting from this kind of air-spring engineering working behind the scenes.
Original USPTO abstract
A mounting arrangement for a planar visual display unit includes a support base, which can be fixed to a support surface, spacer tubes for elevating a pivotable base above the support surface and an arm fixed to the base through a hinge pin and an air spring. The arm supports a shaped channel plate for holding the visual display unit when the visual display unit is attached to a complementary mounting bracket. The pivot base can rotate 360° with respect to the support base and the arm can move in a vertical plane limited by the action of an air spring. The shaped channel plate is attached to the arm by a pin pivot and a ball and socket joint. The arm and the visual display unit maintain a steady position by way of the dampening of the air spring and the frictional loading applied to each of the joint components, namely the hinge pin, and the pin pivot and ball and socket joint attaching the plate to the arm.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,554,238
- Filing date
- 2000-11-10
- Grant date
- 2003-04-29
- Assignee
- Claiteal Pty. Limited
- Inventor(s)
- HIBBERD RONALD CHARLES
- CPC class
- F16M11/24
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