Design Philosophy

To design a product that is so capable and yet so remarkably thin, conventionality had to be left behind and a completely new way of seeing space and geometries had to be re-imagined.
What really makes the pocket tripod unique, is that it’s able to re-arrange the finite material of a thin card, into a structure that can maximize its available strength. making it sturdy enough to bear the weight of the iPhone, even at extreme angles. To achieve this, every millimeter-cube of the pocket tripod had to be designed to efficiently serve a functional purpose.

Core of the Tilt-Adjustment

From the very start of the design of the pocket tripod, a core idea that became very attractive was to have a stand that gives the user adjustable tilt angles. One that allows continuous adjustment, without any complicated tabs that extend out to lean the device on, which is how most current adjustable portable stands or iPhone cases work.
The novel design of the rotational sliders is what allows the pocket tripod to hold the iPhone at any angle. It’s what makes it possible for the user to intuitively adjust the tilt angle, along smooth 90° sweeps.
Instead of attaching the iPhone to a component which is then connected to the base of the stand using a hinge, the iPhone is simply placed within a swivel structure that technically is the hinge itself. This gives controlled, fine tilt-adjustments to the user; and of course this won’t be possible without the rotational sliders that keep the swivel structures securely in place, and guides them along a circular path.

Re-Inventing the Hinge

A conventional hinge mechanism would not be feasible in such a slim profile. The pocket tripod needed a hinge that was extremely compact, yet flexible.

It had to allow transformations between the two forms of the pocket tripod by allowing its pieces to snap in and out of their intended locations, and as a safety feature to pop out under excessive loads.
The result is the novel design of the hinge of the pocket tripod. It has an open barrel, so it’s able to pry open to allow the parts to interact with one another and snap into their 90° position in the case of the “Support” parts. It also gives the added safety benefit. The open barrel design allows the pin of the hinge to be as thick as possible; the same diameter as the thickness of the pocket tripod.
The unique design of the hinges also give rise to an additional advantage. The barrels extend outwards from the sides of the base, extending its footprint. This extends the lateral support of the pocket tripod, but more importantly, when in landscape mode, makes each half independently stable and keeps them from tipping over.

Backbones of the Pocket Tripod

The iPhone may be the lightest smartphone on the market, but even so, when held at extreme angles, large moments are generated, which need to be countered by a rigid structure.
If placed flat, the thin, flexible material of the pocket tripod would hardly have the strength required to counter the weight of the iPhone at extreme angles. However, by placing the same thin profile in a perpendicular orientation, the material becomes exponentially stronger. Derived from this concept, the support structures were designed to form a rigid frame that is sturdy and stable at any orientation of the iPhone.
This was the plan from the very start of the design of the pocket tripod; and achieving the optimum material distribution between its different parts and their sections has been the key to efficiently utilizing the available finite space and materials. The result is a beautiful and highly refined design, that derives its form from its function.

Keeping things in place

The pocket tripod is designed on a simple concept. Twist it from the middle, and flip up the sides, then place the iPhone in the cut-outs.
But to keep each one of the parts in their intended positions, locking mechanisms had to be packed into the thin parts of the pocket tripod which would allow for this to happen.
The “Locks” are exactly that. They allow each part of the pocket tripod to snap into predetermined positions. They have very intricate shapes that are derived from the path of motion that each part takes relative to its neighbouring part.
For example, the “Tilt Vertical Locks” ensure that the swivel pieces are exactly in their vertical position. This ensures that the iPhone is easily placed in and removed from the slots. It also makes sure that the swivel pieces stay in position while in card form in a wallet, and are both in the same position for the next use. Similarly, the twist locks keep the two halves of the pocket tripod exactly parallel in both the card and stand form.

Last piece of the puzzle

The pocket tripod isn’t complete without the iPhone. It’s designed to work with the iPhone placed inside. The iPhone compliments its structure. It synchronizes the position of both swivel pieces; and together with the “Horizontal Limiters” limits the tilt motion to 90° swipes. Each pocket tripod model is custom designed around the dimensions of its intended mobile device, to work in combination with it, and fit it securely with no wiggle room. This ensures a reliable and steady interaction between the two.
The reason why the iPhone was picked as the ideal smartphone for the pocket tripod is among other reasons a functional one. The iPhone, unlike almost any other smartphone has a constant cross-section all around its edges. This makes it possible to place it within the cut-out slots of the pocket tripod in any way imaginable, because it will always be a perfect fit. This is also what makes it possible to achieve a full 360° tilt-angle adjustment using the pocket tripod. That being said, the Pocket Tripod also works with many other non-Apple smartphones.