US 6,637,707 · Granted 2003-10-28
The Snap-On Cradle That Lets You Swap Wall Holders in Seconds
Imagine a wall-mounted holder that grabs onto whatever you put in it—a phone, a remote, a small device—using soft rubber fingers, but snaps out of its base whenever you want. The genius part is the tapered dovetail lock: push one little tab, and the whole holder pops free from the wall mount, no tools needed.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a wall-mounted holding system with a fixed base that stays on your wall and a removable cradle that clicks in and out. What's protected here is the specific dovetail joint design (the angled interlocking shape), the spring-loaded locking tab that holds it in place, and the U-shaped cradle made of soft, grippy rubber that deforms around objects to hold them securely. Anyone making a similar quick-release wall holder with this tapered dovetail snap mechanism would be infringing.
Why it matters
This patent solves a real problem: most wall holders are either permanently mounted or awkwardly screwed together. The dovetail-and-tab design lets manufacturers sell one base that customers can swap different cradles into—perfect for households with multiple devices or people. It also means the cradle can be removed for cleaning or travel without damaging the wall. For a company like All Rite Products, this design becomes a product platform: sell the base once, sell interchangeable cradles forever.
Real-world use
Every time someone yanks a phone holder off their bedroom wall to take it on a trip, or swaps out a remote caddy for a tablet holder without unscrewing anything, they're using this geometry.
Original USPTO abstract
A removable holder comprises a mounting base ( 10 ) and item holding device ( 12 ). The mounting base ( 10 ) is intended to be semi-permanently attached to a vertical wall, and the item holding device ( 12 ) is designed to be manually mounted within a tapered dovetail receptacle ( 26 ) formed in the mounting base for manual removal from the mounting base when not in use. The item holding device ( 12 ) incorporates a male tapered dovetail section ( 32 ) for mating into the female dovetail section ( 26 ) of the mounting base ( 10 ). A locking tab ( 46 ) is formed with the mounting base ( 10 ) in a manner to be biased outwardly to snap into a locking position against a top surface ( 40 ) of the male dovetail section ( 32 ) to lock the male dovetail section in place. Pressing on the locking tab ( 46 ) pushes it out of the way so that the male dovetail section ( 32 ) of the item holding device ( 12 ) can be manually removed from the female dovetail angled surfaces ( 26 ) of the mounting base ( 10 ). The item holding device ( 12 ) comprises a “U”-shaped cradle ( 30 ) having a series of “V”-shaped cradle interior members ( 56 ) made of a relatively soft and deformable rubber material so as to readily deform against the weight of an item placed in the cradle member ( 30 ), thereby intending to grasp onto the item to help retain the item within the cradle member. The cradle member ( 30 ) also includes a resilient rubber locking strap ( 54 ) for stretching over and locking against the outside cradle member in order to retain the item placed therein.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,637,707
- Filing date
- 1999-12-13
- Grant date
- 2003-10-28
- Assignee
- All Rite Products, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- GATES GEORGE D., GATES TRAVIS D.
- CPC class
- F16M13/02
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