US20120305422A1 - Portable device protector case - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable device case includes a flexible material jacket conformably surrounding at least a portion of the periphery of the portable device and a rigid rim conformably surrounding the jacket comprising one or more hinges and a snap lock to encase the jacket and the portable device surrounded therein, wherein total functionality of the portable device is accessible through apertures and contacts in the jacket and rim and no accessory tools or affixing devices are required to install the portable device in the case.

Description

BACKGROUND
• 1. Field
• The present disclosure relates generally to protector cases for mobile devices, and more particularly to a protector case for an Apple™ iPhone™.
• 2. Background
• Mobile personal consumer electronic products are vulnerable to damage if dropped. Smart phones, such as the Apple™ iPhone™, constitute a valuable and increasingly costly vehicle for storage of contact data, appointment information, photography, entertainment data storage and retrieval, all in addition to the primary function of communication, whether by voice or data. There is a need for a system in which it is easy to install the smart phone that is effective protection against shock damage, and enables access to all the functionality of the smart phone.
SUMMARY
• In one aspect of the disclosure, a portable device case includes a flexible material jacket conformably surrounding at least a portion of the periphery of the portable device and a rigid rim conformably surrounding the jacket comprising one or more hinges and a lock to encase the jacket and the portable device surrounded therein, wherein total functionality of the portable device is accessible through apertures and contacts in the jacket and rim and no accessory tools or affixing devices are required to install the portable device in the case.
• In another aspect of the disclosure, a method of protecting a portable device includes conformally encasing at least a portion of a periphery of the portable device with a flexible material jacket, conformally surrounding the flexible material with a rigid rim comprising one or more hinges and a lock to encase the jacket and the portable device surrounded therein, wherein the conformally encasing and conformally surrounding is achieved without accessory tools or affixing devices, and retaining total access to all functionality of the portable device through apertures and contacts in the jacket and rim.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1A is a conceptual perspective view of an embodiment of a protector case containing an iPhone™ in accordance with the disclosure.
• FIG. 1B is a conceptual perspective view of an embodiment of a bottom portion of the protector case ofFIG. 1A.
• FIG. 2 is a conceptual exploded perspective view of an embodiment of a rim, jacket and an iPhone™ according toFIGS. 1A and 1B.
• FIG. 3 is a conceptual exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the jacket and rim ofFIGS. 1A and 1B with distal portions of the rim opened.
• FIG. 4 is a conceptual perspective view of an embodiment of a top portion of the case containing an iPhone™ showing details of a lock for enclosing the jacket in the rim ofFIGS. 1A and 1B.
• FIG. 5 is a conceptual perspective view of an embodiment of a bottom portion of a case for an iPhone™ including a hinged connector cap in accordance with the disclosure.
• FIG. 6 is a conceptual perspective front view of another embodiment of a protector case containing an iPhone™ in accordance with the disclosure.
• FIG. 7 is a conceptual perspective back view of the protector case ofFIG. 6.
• FIG. 8 is a conceptual exploded perspective view of the case ofFIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• The present disclosure is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various aspects of a portable device protector case are presented. This disclosure, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited by the various aspects of the device presented herein. The detailed description of the portable device protector case with reference to the Apple™ iPhone™ is provided below so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. However, the disclosure is not limited to one particular device as a protector case, and details of the various aspects described may vary with respect to different portable devices.
• The detailed description may include specific details for illustrating various aspects of the portable device protector case. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known elements may be shown in block diagram form, or omitted, to avoid obscuring the inventive concepts presented throughout this disclosure.
• By way of example, various aspects of the portable device protector case may be illustrated by describing components that arc coupled, attached or connected together, However, the disclosure, while described in terms of an Apple™ iPhone™, may be practiced with other portable devices. As used herein, the terms “coupled”, “attached”, and “connected” may be used to indicate either a direct connection between two components or, where appropriate, an indirect connection to one another through intervening or intermediate components. In contrast, when a component is referred to as being “directly coupled”, “directly attached” or “directly connected” to another component, there are no intervening elements present.
• Relative terms such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or “top” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another element illustrated in the drawings. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of a portable device equipped with the protector case in addition to the orientation depicted in the drawings. By way of example, if a protector case for a portable device in the drawings is turned over, elements described as being on the “bottom” side of the other elements would then be oriented on the “top” side of the other elements. The term “bottom” can therefore encompass both an orientation of “bottom” and “top” depending on the particular orientation of the apparatus.
• Various aspects of a protector case for a portable device may be illustrated with reference to one or more exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments of a protector case disclosed herein.
• In an aspect of the disclosure,FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate perspective views of an iPhone™101 contained in aprotector case100. The protector case includes aflexible material jacket125 that surrounds the iPhone™101 around the peripheral edges, leaving adisplay touch screen110, amicrophone112, acamera113, anoperations button114 on afront surface118 andspeakers154 and a power/I/Ocable connection port156 on the bottom of the iPhone™101 exposed and accessible to a user. Theprotector case100 is configured such that thefront surface118 and aback surface120 of the iPhone™101 are accessible but recessed from external dimensions of theprotector case100.
• Theprotector case100 includes aflexible material jacket125 conformably surrounding at least a portion of the periphery of theportable device100. Theprotector case100 further includes arigid rim130 conformably surrounding thejacket125.
• Preferably, therigid rim130 is comprised of metal, plastics (e.g., polycarbonate), carbon fiber, wood, etc. Therigid rim130 is configured to receive the brunt of an impulse of shock waves in the event that the iPhone™101 is dropped. The rigid rim is in conformal contact with thejacket125, where thejacket125 may be made from a flexible material that has a sufficient amount of elastic damping to absorb and dissipate the shock waves from an impact, thereby reducing an amount of shock vibration received by the iPhone™101. Thejacket125, is in substantially conformal contact with surfaces of the iPhone™101 to prevent a significant amount of vibration and shockwave motion of the iPhone™101 with respect to either thejacket125 or therim130.
• The flexible material may be a silicone rubber or a rubberized material having absorbing and damping properties and dimensional characteristics suitable to prevent damage according to a defined set of impact conditions. For example, a combination of damping properties and material thickness of thejacket125 may be determined, for example, to prevent operational damage to the iPhone™101 when it experiences a drop from a defined height and impacting a hard surface in any of a number of defined orientations and impact edges.
• FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded perspective view of the iPhone™101, thejacket125 and therigid rim130. Thejacket125 andrim130 may include a plurality of holes to provide access to connectors ports and buttons on the edge of the iPhone™101. Referring also toFIGS. 1A and 1B, aheadphone jack hole150, a mute switch hole152, and ahole153 for thespeakers154 and the power/I/Ocable connection port156 are included. Thejacket125 may further include feed through buttons that are depressible to contact and operate buttons in corresponding locations on the iPhone™101. Such feed through buttons may include an ON/OFF button and Volume (+ and −)buttons128 and129, respectively. Access holes and feed through buttons for other portable devices may vary in detail and location, depending on the configuration of the device.
• A thickness dimension of thejacket125 from back to front of the iPhone™101 may be somewhat greater than a thickness of the iPhone™101, in order to prevent thetouch screen110 from contacting flat surfaces. In some locations of the jacket, such as at least at the corners where impact is likely to be more concentrated at a point, the thickness dimension may be made larger to provide a greater amount of shock absorption material. In addition therim130, being rigid, may distribute, and thereby dilute, the impact shock over a greater volume and perimeter of thejacket125, further reducing the likelihood of damage to theiPhone™101.
• Still referring toFIG. 2, and also toFIG. 1A, therim130 may include holes corresponding to holes and feed through buttons in thejacket125. For example, the iPhone™ ON/OFF button127 and theVolume buttons128,129 may protrude through holes in therim130. Therim130 may optionally include a rocker insert (not shown) that inserts into the two holes from beneath therim130 corresponding to the two Volume buttons of thejacket125. The rocker insert can provide a firm sense of contact when pressure is applied to change a volume setting. Therim130 may also include holes corresponding to the holes in thejacket125 to provide access, for example, via aheadphone jack hole150 for the headphone jack, and a mute switch hole155, holes153aforspeakers154 and ahole153bfor the power/I/Ocable connection port156 on the iPhone™. The mute switch hole155 in therim130 may be configured to hold a slidablemute switch extension160 that is configured to contact and slidably operate the mute switch on theiPhone™101.
• Therim130 may further include one or more hinges to subdivide therim130 into two or more portions to enable insertion of theiPhone™101, which is already installed in thejacket125 by press-fitting and minor stretching, into therim130. Referring toFIG. 3, therim130 has, for example, twodistal portions310,320, and amain portion330 may be opened by outward rotation of two hinges340. With the twodistal portions310,320 thus outwardly opened, theiPhone™101 encased in thejacket125, may be inserted against themain portion330 with corresponding holes and protrusions appropriately mated. The two distal portions,310,320 may then be pressed against thejacket125 by rotation of thehinges340 to bring the twodistal portions310,320 together.
• Referring toFIG. 4, asnap lock400 comprising ahook420 on thedistal portion320 and a catch410 (not shown, but inside a tip of distal portion310) may be arranged to meet as the distal ends of eachdistal portion310,320 of therim130 are pressed together, thus caging thejacket125 inside therim130. Thesnap lock400 may be disengaged by pressing thedistal end320 including thehook420 inwardly against thejacket125, which is compressible, while pushing thedistal end310 with thecatch410 away from thehook420. Thecatch410 may be a spring loaded assembly (not shown). The spring loaded assembly may be attached to thedistal portion310 with one or more screws. However, the spring loaded assembly may be permanently or replaceably press fitted, glued, welded, or attached in any number of ways known in the art of assembly now or to be later invented. Furthermore, thesnap lock400 is merely one example of various possible mechanisms to lock therim130 around thejacket125 and the iPhone™.
• Referring toFIG. 5, in an embodiment, thejacket125 may further include a hingedcap500 that may be inserted into the connector at the bottom of theiPhone™101 to protect the power/I/Ocable connection port156. The hingedcap500 may be formed integrally with thejacket125 of the same flexible material, such as silicone or an equivalent rubber. Alternatively, the hingedcap500 may be a separate component.
• Referring toFIG. 6, ajacket625 is shown similar tojacket125 in most respects, with the exception of additional coverage over front and back surfaces of theiPhone™101. For example, on the front surface of theiPhone™101, thejacket625 provides openings for a display screen, a front camera and microphone (together) but otherwise covers the remaining front surface. Thejacket625 is flexible enough so that theoperation button114 may be actuated, and a marking614 may be provided to locate the operation button. In addition, thejacket625 may include a hingedcap632 to cover and protect the earphone jack of the iPhone™. Arim630, substantially similar torim130, modified to accommodate the hingedcap632, may encase thejacket625 and iPhone™.
• Referring toFIG. 7, a back side of thejacket625 includes anaperture frame640 for a camera and flash.
• FIG. 8 shows an exploded view of therim630, slidablemute switch extension160,jacket625 andaperture frame660. Therim630 may encasejacket625 in substantially the same manner asjacket125, with hinges640.
• It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recited therein.
• The claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects of this disclosure, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. For example, while the Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”

Claims (20)

1. A case for a portable device comprising:

a flexible material jacket conformably surrounding at least a portion of the periphery of the portable device; and

a rigid rim conformably surrounding the jacket comprising one or more hinges and a lock to encase the jacket and the portable device surrounded therein,

wherein total functionality of the portable device is accessible through apertures and contacts in the jacket and the rigid rim, and

wherein no accessory tools or affixing devices are required to install the portable device in the case.

2. The case ofclaim 1, wherein the portable device is at least one of a cell phone, a smart phone, an MP3 player, a portable computer, and a personal digital assistant.

3. The case ofclaim 1, wherein the portable device is an Apple™ iPhone™.

4. The case ofclaim 1, wherein the jacket comprises at least one of a silicone and a rubberized material.

5. The case ofclaim 1, wherein the jacket comprises access holes to connector ports on a rim edge of the portable device.

6. The case ofclaim 1, wherein the rigid rim comprises access holes to connector ports on a rim edge of the portable device.

7. The case ofclaim 1, wherein the jacket comprises conformal buttons corresponding to buttons on the portable device.

8. The case ofclaim 7, wherein the rigid rim comprises access holes to accommodate conformal buttons on the jacket.

9. The case ofclaim 1, wherein the rigid rim is configured to transfer mechanical contact shock distributively to the jacket.

10. The case ofclaim 9, wherein the jacket is configured to absorb and attenuate the contact shock, thereby protecting the portable device.

11. The case ofclaim 1, wherein the rigid rim is at least one of metal, a hard plastic, carbon fiber, and wood.

12. A method of protecting a portable device, comprising:

conformally encasing at least a portion of a periphery of the portable device with a flexible material jacket;

conformally surrounding the flexible material with a rim comprising one or more hinges and a lock to encase the jacket and the portable device surrounded therein, wherein the conformally encasing and conformally surrounding is achieved without accessory tools or affixing devices; and

retaining total access to all functionality of the portable device through apertures and contacts in the jacket and rim.

13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the portable device is at least one of a cell phone, a smart phone, an MP3 player, a portable computer, and a personal digital assistant.

14. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the portable device is an Apple™ iPhone™.

15. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the jacket comprises at least one of a silicone and a rubberized material.

16. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the jacket comprises access holes to connectors on a rim edge of the portable device.

17. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the rim comprises access holes to connector ports on a rim edge of the portable device.

18. The method ofclaim 12, wherein jacket comprises conformal buttons corresponding to buttons on the portable device.

19. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the rim comprises access holes to accommodate conformal buttons on the jacket.

20. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the rim is at least one of a metal, a hard plastic, carbon fiber, and wood.

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