Laptop Sunshade

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Like most people, when I bought a laptop I eagerly looked forward to using it outside. One quickly discovers that most laptops screens
are not up to the bright ambient light. With many others I began to investigate ways to get around this, quickly discovering that this was not easy. Everything was tried from a glare reducing film on a plastic screen to building a black box in which to insert the laptop. None of these provided an enjoyable experience. Online the offerings appeared similar to what I had been looking at. See attachment "A"

After experimenting I discovered that the most important feature appeared to be providing a barrier with sufficient height. This turned out to be about 30 inches. Windy conditions with this height turned out of course to be a problem. I also wanted it to be easy to carry, set up, and store. Attachment "B" shows the prototype results. My deck has a southern exposure on an ocean shore slope and it has been totally satisfactory for me. It does not remove reflections from the user side, but I found in reality that once sitting at the laptop this is not an issue.The prevailing wind is offshore so I have needed no more than one suction cup to keep the screen from blowing over. On the suggested production model I am showing three suction cups and an option to use Velcro strap to maintain stability for winds from any direction. Anybody wishing to make one similar to the prototype is more than welcome.

Attachment "C" shows a proposed production configuration which I would happily buy myself.

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  • ABOUT THE ENTRANT

  • Name:
    Donald Lefever
  • Type of entry:
    individual
  • Profession:
    Engineer/Designer
  • Number of times previously entering contest:
    1
  • Donald's favorite design and analysis tools:
    Catia 5
    Alibre
    Elfini
    Algor
    Ansolid
    Fusion 360
  • Donald's hobbies and activities:
    General fun design of any thing I think of. Flying
  • Donald belongs to these online communities:
    Linked in. Facebook
  • Donald is inspired by:
    Thinking of things that may have never been designed before & fills a need I have personally
    encountered..
  • Software used for this entry:
    Alibre Sketchup Windows
  • Patent status:
    none