Projector, fastening assembly thereof and fastening method thereof

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a projector, a fastening assembly thereof and a fastening method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable projector and its fastening assembly as well as its fastening method.

2. Description of Related Art

Over the past ten-odd years, may significant improvements related to image projecting apparatuses have been made by virtue of the progress of semiconductor process and the development in the latest technologies. Especially, the breakthrough is presented in the dimensions, image quality and image signal processing thereof. The image projectors implementing three-beam CRT scanning technology were produced early on and had advantages of high definition, excellent color saturation and high contrast originated from CRT imaging technology. However, since the conventional CRT requires an electronic gun, which has a significant volume, to excite fluorescent materials, the early projector is consequently bulky and merely adaptive to be used in commodious space where a fixed site for installing such projector is provided, such as a conference hall or a cinema.

Later, after LCD technology was introduced ten-odd years ago, with the vigorous development thereof, a projecting method basing on LCD technology has been put into application. Since an LCD projection panel used in an LCD projector can be microminiaturized through a semiconductor process technology, and a light source thereof is generally realized by super-high pressure mercury lamps or gas discharge lamps instead of the bulky electronic gun used in the early projector to excite fluorescent materials, the modern LCD projector is ridden of the limitation in volume which the CRT projector is innately subject to. Therefore, the size of LCD projectors gets smaller and smaller while the image quality thereof stands comparison with that of the CRT projectors. Consequently, the traditional bulky CRT projectors tend to be replaced by the LCD projectors gradually.

In recent years, a novel DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology has been developed and applied to projectors. The DLP technology developed by Texas Instruments is a digital image technology, which realizes a new projection system that generates images by one or more special DMD (Digital Micromirror Display) chips. Such technology implements MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) process to form the chips with numerous microminiature reflectors, which reflect incident light beams to generate images. DLP technology can not only refine the projected images, but also efficiently reduce the volume and weight of a projector to make it light, slim, and small. In addition to the DLP and LCD technologies that have been introduced, LEDs are extensively employed as a light source in modern projectors instead of bulbs that are apt to give out heat. As LEDs have the benefits of small size, coolness, and high light efficiency, the modern projectors can be ridden of the limitation in volume which the projectors using bulbs are innately subject to, so as to further progress in reducing the volume thereof.

Presently, projectors have entered an era where the portability thereof is dominant. Many up-to-date projectors are merely as large as a palm so as to facilitate users\' carrying the same. Furthermore, some leading manufacturers in the industry are paying efforts to develop miniaturized projectors that allow hand-held electronic devices, such as mobile phones, PDA and watches to perform projecting functions. Thus, it is expectable that more and more portable projectors will be applied in our daily life.

As mentioned previously, while the traditional projectors are bulky and unfavorable for portability, the same are typically settled on tables or mounted on hanging brackets to perform projection. While there are more and more portable projectors (such as mini projectors, hand-held projectors, miniature projectors, etc.) available on the market, with the mobile convenience of such portable projectors, general users rather freely apply their projectors in personal offices, coffee shops, outdoor speech occasions, small rooms or open fields where fixed installing sites for the traditional projectors may be unavailable than limit the applications in large indoor rooms.

For using projectors in places without preset installing sites and support structures, it is needed to provide a specific fastening and supporting device for a portable projector to be mounted thereon. Hence, the present invention provides a fastening assembly for a portable projector to allow the portable projector to perform projection in a space without a supporting assembly and a hanging bracket.

The present invention provides a fastening assembly for a portable projector to be combined with the projector for fixing the same. The portable projector can be coupled with a common pan-tilt or tripod via the fastening assembly so that the projector can be operated in a space or place without a supporting assembly and a hanging bracket.

The disclosed fastening assembly has a chamber for accommodating a portable projector. The chamber has an opening formed at a front end thereof for loading or unloading the portable projector therethrough. A tenon is provided adjacent to the opening for being engaged with a recess formed at a front end of a bottom of the projector loaded in the fastening assembly so as to retain the projector in the chamber. A specific open region is formed at a top of the chamber so that function keys provided on the projector can be accessed by a user after the projector is loaded in the fastening assembly. Another open region is formed at a rear side of the chamber so that various I/O (Input/Output) ports, such as power supply, signal input, USB ports, etc. can be exposed and be connected with relevant external devices. A rectangular block is raised from a center of a bottom of the fastening assembly and a threaded hole is formed in the block for allowing the entire fastening assembly to be screwed to a supporting assembly.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a threaded hole may be provided at a center of a bottom of the projector so that the same can be directly screwed to the supporting assembly without the fastening assembly positioned intermediately.

One advantage of the present invention is to provide a fastening assembly for receiving a portable projector fixed therein.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a fastening assembly that can be coupled with other conventional portable supporting assemblies (e.g. tripods) or functional modules (e.g. camera pan-tilts) so as to allow a portable projector settled therein to be adjusted for desired projection directions and angles in a space where a supporting assembly and a hanging bracket are not available.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing a portable projector and a fastening assembly thereof according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an oblique bottom view of the fastening assembly thereof according to one embodiment of the present invention;

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