The present invention relates generally to a field of accessories for mobile phones or mobile phone cases, and more particularly the present invention relates to phone cases and attachments that can be coupled to the mobile phone cases. More specifically, the present invention relates to an attachment for a mobile phone case that would enable a user of the mobile phone to easily navigate through different portions of the mobile phone screen, while holding the mobile phone in his/her palm, and enable changing the orientation of the mobile phone relative to a flat surface.
Phones, including but not limited to cell/cellular, mobile, wireless, and/or smartphones, have become useful repositories for information and communication by many users. Mobile phones or smartphones available nowadays are quite difficult to hold and operate in some applications. This may be particularly problematic in single-handed modes of use, for example when taking a photograph such as a user-directed photograph (also termed a “selfie”). The phone sometimes slips to the ground when held in a single hand. Damage caused by dropping the mobile phone is very expensive. Although protecting cases for mobile phones and other multimedia devices are known in the art, they only enclose the mobile phones from the sides and back, while leaving the screen uncovered for viewing and interfacing with the mobile phones. The cases are usually able to prevent the mobile phones from scratches and other damages but do not possess any additional provision that would allow the user to hold the mobile phone single-handed and prevent the mobile phones from slipping off of the user's hand causing damage to the phone. Thus, there exists a need for a solution to assist a user in securely holding the mobile phone, even when a mobile phone is covered using a phone case especially when the mobile phone is held in one hand by the user.
A promising use of mobile phones nowadays is their use for viewing multimedia videos or for real-time video communication. The mobile phone itself doesn't have a standing structure or provision that would allow it to prop up in different orientations (landscape or portrait), thus, the user is usually required to support the mobile phone to prop up using his/her hand or some other support items readily available to the user. It is impractical to support the mobile phone using hands especially when there is a need to prop up the phone for a long time. Additionally, if the mobile phones are supported using some other support items readily available to the user, there is a risk that the mobile phones may slide down due to their unstable positioning against the chosen support item.
In order to address the abovementioned problems associated with mobile phone handling, a number of solutions in the form of gripping attachments for mobile phone cases are made available in the market. Following are some of such attempts made to develop gripping attachments for mobile phone cases that allow a user to hold the mobile phone.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,454,513B2 relates to a phone holder for holding a mobile phone. The holder includes at least one lateral support. At least one insert can be located between the lateral support and the phone. Preferably, the insert can be replaceable, and the lateral support is manufactured separately and fastened able to a common body used with holders for multiple phone types.
CN206807524U discloses a cell-phone ring device that includes a slide portion and ring portion, and the slide portion can fix at the back of a cell-phone, and its main part is a soft magnetism slide, the slide has a first sliding surface, ring portion includes ring and magnet, and it has a second sliding surface, and the second sliding surface is narrow in first sliding surface, magnet has the magnetic attraction with the slide, the magnetic attraction makes second sliding surface and first sliding surface inhale each other tightly.
US2018220782A1 discloses a base member fitted to the mobile case and the holding member with a ring structure. The ring is movable from its rest position to use position.
Although there are a number of gripping attachments for mobile phone cases, none of them are specially designed to prop up the mobile phone and adjust the display screen of the mobile phone as per the user's requirement when placed on the desk or on any other flat surface. Although some of the prior existing solutions attempt to create reliable and economical mobile phone holding devices, those solutions fail to meet the user's requirement of adjusting the gripping member as per the user's hand size and handling comfort. In view of the above prior art, it can be understood that many mobile phone cases with gripping members have been designed in an attempt to provide a similar solution, however, they are bulky, expensive, and inefficient.
In light of the foregoing, there exists a prolonged need for gripping attachments for attaching to mobile phone cases that would overcome problems prevalent in the prior art.
The present invention overcomes the problems prevalent in the prior art by providing a novel gripping attachment for a mobile phone case and for cases of other electronic devices such as portable media players, personal digital assistants, tablets, etc.
An object of the present invention is to provide a gripping attachment for a mobile phone case for propping up a mobile phone enclosed in the phone case and which is ergonomic in design, simple in terms of its structural configuration, and convenient and quick to use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a gripping attachment for a mobile phone case that allows a user to prop up the mobile phone and adjust the mobile phone's screen in different angles and orientations (landscape or portrait) while viewing multimedia videos or attending real-time video communications etc., as per the user's comfort.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone case with a gripping attachment that allows a user to securely hold the mobile phone in his/her palm and allows the user to access various portions of the mobile screen without requiring articulation of the user's fingers in an awkward or uncomfortable manner
Another object of the present invention is to provide a gripping attachment for a mobile phone case that prevents slippage of the mobile phone from the user's hand especially when the user does a single-handed operation on the phone (such as for example while taking a selfie).
According to one aspect of the present invention, the mobile phone case essentially includes a protecting base and a side support and an attachment. The attachment includes an attaching member, a gripping member, a moving arm, a first pin, and a second pin. The attachment is attached in a first cut-out section made in the phone case by means of interference fit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the attachment includes a base with a magnetic strip and the phone case includes another strip of magnet or magnetic material. The attachment is detachably attached to the mobile case by means of magnetism.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the attaching member is attached to an outer surface of the phone case using an adhesive, glue, or tape.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the attaching member is provided with a centrally located hole and the phone case is provided with an etched region. The attachment is rotatably arranged in the etched region using a locking pin.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the attaching member is attached to the inner surface of the mobile phone case using an adhesive, glue, or tape, and the mobile phone case is provided with a slot.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the mobile phone case is provided with a plurality of openings including a first opening, a second opening, and a third opening. The end portion of the gripping member is lockable in any one of the openings in a second working position.
Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.
So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may have been referred by embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. These and other features, benefits, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following text figure, with like reference numbers referring to like structures across the views, wherein:
Some embodiments, illustrating its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and “including,” and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any methods, and systems similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments, the preferred methods, and systems are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary.
The present invention is described hereinafter by various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein reference numerals used in the accompanying drawing correspond to the like elements throughout the description. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In addition, several materials are identified as suitable for various facets of the implementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The various features and embodiments of the present invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying figures, namely
From herein afterward, the attachment is referred to as an attachment 100 and the phone case is referred to as a case 200.
Referring firstly to
Referring now to
The attaching member 110 attaches the attachment 100 to the mobile phone case 200. The attaching member 110 may have circular, triangular, quadrilateral, or other polygonal shapes. The attaching member 110 includes a first pin receiving means 112 and a second pin receiving means 114. The first pin receiving means 112 is of hollow cylindrical shape and has a cavity thereinside. The first pin 140 passes through the cavity of the first pin receiving means 112. Similarly, the second pin receiving means 114 is of hollow cylindrical shape and has a cavity thereinside. The first pin 140 passes through the cavity of the second pin receiving means 114. The first pin receiving means 112 and the second pin receiving means 114 are colinear. Referring now to
The gripping member 120 may have a circular, triangular, quadrilateral, or another polygonal shape. The gripping member 120 includes a third pin receiving means 122 and a fourth pin receiving means 124. The third pin receiving means 122 and the fourth pin receiving means 124 has holes thereinside for receiving the second pin 150. The holes of the third pin receiving means 122 and the fourth pin receiving means 124 are colinear. The gripping member 120 is rotatable about the second pin 150. The gripping member 120 includes a second resting surface 126 for the moving arm 130 to rest.
The moving arm 130 includes a first cylindrical extension 132 and a second cylindrical extension 134. The first cylindrical extension 132 is configured at a first end of the moving arm 130. The second cylindrical extension 134 is configured at a second end of the moving arm 130. The moving arm 130 is rotatable about the first pin 140. The first and second cylindrical extensions 132,134 includes a thorough opening. The moving arm 130 has a locking slot 135 configured between the first cylindrical extension 132 and the second cylindrical extension 134 as seen in
The attaching member 110, the gripping member 120, and the moving arm 130 are made from polycarbonate using any known plastic molding process. It is possible for a person skilled in the art to make the attaching member 110, the gripping member 120, and the moving arm 130 using any metal, metal alloy, polymer, or plastic or any other suitable material. The first pin 140 and the second pin 150 are made from metal or metal alloy in general. In an exemplary non-limiting implementation of the present invention, the first pin 140 and the second pin 150 are made from stainless steel.
The first pin 140 connects the attaching member 110 with the moving arm 130. The first pin 140 is secured inside the first pin receiving means 112, the second pin receiving means 114, and the first cylindrical extension 132 to connect the attaching member 110 with the moving arm 130. The first cylindrical extension 132 must be held colinear between the first pin receiving means 112 and the second pin receiving means 114 for securing the first pin 140 thereinside.
The second pin 150 connects the gripping member 120 with the moving arm 130. The second pin 150 passes through the second cylindrical extension 134, the third pin receiving means 122, and the fourth pin receiving means 124 to connect the gripping member 120 with the moving arm 130. The second cylindrical extension 134 must be held colinear between the third pin receiving means 122 and the fourth pin receiving means 124 for passing the second pin 150 thereinside.
The attaching member 110 and the gripping member 120 include the first resting surface 116 and the second resting surface 126 respectively for the moving arm 130 to rest therebetween when the moving arm 130 is rotated 0 degrees about the first pin 140 and the gripping member 120 is rotated 0 degrees about the second pin 150. The moving arm 130 is rotated to an angle of 0 degrees about the first pin 140 and the gripping member 120 is rotated to an angle of 90 degrees about the second pin 150 to bring the attachment 100 in a non-working position as shown in
The moving arm 130 is rotated to an angle of more than 0 degrees about the first pin 140 and the gripping member 120 is rotated 90 degrees about the second pin 150 to bring the attachment 100 to a first working position as shown in
In another embodiment of the present invention, the attachment 100 further includes a base 160, and a strip of magnet or magnetic material. The base 160 may be circular, polygonal, triangular, or any other known geometrical shape. Referring now to
The underside of the attaching surface 162 allows the attachment of a second magnetic strip 164. The second magnetic strip 164 is attached on opposite side of the attaching surface 162 using an adhesive, glue, or tape. The second magnetic strip 164 is covered using an enclosure 166. The enclosure 166 is made up of a plastic sheet. Referring now to
Referring now to
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the attaching member 110 is provided with a centrally located hole 118 and the phone case 200 is provided with an etched region 230 (
Referring now to
Referring now to
For using the mobile phone case 200, the user needs to insert the mobile phone in the cavity 280. Initially, the attachment 100 attached to the mobile phone case 200 is in non-working position thereof. The user needs to pull/rotate the moving arm 130 and gripping member 120 to bring in the first working position. The rotated moving arm 130 with the gripping member 120 provides the user with better holding facility. For making the mobile phone to stand on flat surface, the gripping member 120 needs to rotate towards the outer surface 210 of the case 200 to achieve the second working position. The required locking angle for the second working position is locked by fixing the end portion 125 of the gripping member 120 in the locking slot 115 or in the any opening 240 or 250 or 260 made in the phone case 200. After using the mobile phone single handedly, the user can reverse the process to bring the attachment 100 to the non-working position thereof.
The present invention has the advantage of providing the novel gripping attachment 100 for a mobile phone case 200. For the purpose of this disclosure, the term mobile phone case or case 200 is used in the context of mobile phones, however it should not be construed limiting factor and the mobile phone case here also encompasses cases of other electronic devices such as but not limited to portable media players, personal digital assistants, tablets, etc. The attachment 100 for the case 200 is ergonomic in design, simple in terms of its structural configuration, and convenient and quick to use. The attachment 100 allows a user to prop up the mobile phone and adjust the mobile phone's screen in different angles and orientations (landscape or portrait) while viewing multimedia videos or attending real-time video communications etc., as per the user's comfort. The attachment 100 allows a user to securely hold the mobile phone in his/her palm and allows the user to access various portions of the mobile screen without requiring articulation of the user's fingers in an awkward or uncomfortable manner. Attachment 100 prevents slippage of the mobile phone from the user's hand especially when the user does a single-handed operation on the phone (such as for example while taking a selfie) as shown in
It should be understood according to the preceding description of the present invention that the same is susceptible to changes, modifications and adaptations, and that the said changes, modifications and adaptations fall within scope of the appended claims