The present invention is in the field of belt clip attachment devices for attaching personal electronic devices such as wireless mobile phones to belt clips.
Belt clips and belt clip attachment devices have been proposed in the past for connecting a mobile phone to the belt of a user. These belt clips and attachment devices have suffered from a number drawbacks, some of which include: the belt clips are too large and bulk, making them uncomfortable and obtrusive; use of the mobile phone with the belt clip often requires extra material on the sides of the mobile phone to attach the mobile phone to the belt clip (this is fine when the mobile phone is attached to the belt clip, but when the mobile phone is being used, the extra material makes the mobile phone bulky); often the belt clip is specific for a particular type of mobile phone, making the belt clip inoperable with other mobile phones; some belt clip attachment devices are difficult to install and/or difficult to remove from the mobile phone; the design of some belt clips and belt clip attachment devices inadvertently allows the mobile phone to pop off of the belt clip.
The above drawbacks and others are addressed by the belt clip and belt clip attachment device of the present invention.
An aspect of the invention involves a belt clip attachment device that attaches to an existing battery door latch on the rear side of a mobile phone. The belt clip attachment device includes a unique design that allows it to attach and lock to the battery door latch with a unique pushing and rotating motion. The belt clip attachment device and a corresponding belt clip may have cooperative configurations that allow the belt clip attachment device and mobile phone to be connected to the belt clip at numerous possible orientations with respect to the user's belt. The belt clip attachment device may also be connected to a wide variety of generic belt clips currently on the market. The belt clip attachment device is universal in that it may be used with a variety of different mobile phones that are configured for attachment thereto.
Further objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a review of the drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments set forth below.
With reference to
The mobile phone 110 includes a housing 130 with a rear side 140 and a substantially elliptical battery compartment door 150 detachably locked to the rear side 140 through a battery compartment door latch 160. The battery compartment door 150 includes a top curved edge 170 and a bottom curved edge 172. Adjacent the bottom curved edge 172, the battery compartment door 150 may include a tang (not shown) for use in attaching the battery compartment door 150 to the housing 130. The top curved edge 170 may include a semi-circular cut out 180 near the center of the top curved edge 170.
As shown best in
With reference to
Opposite C-shaped slots 260 are located in the lower cylindrical hub 250. Although two slots 260 are described, other numbers of slots 260 may be used (e.g., 1, 3, 4, etc.). Each slot 260 may include an insertion/removal tack 262, a rotation track 264, and a locking track 266. A stop or post 268 may separate the insertion/removal track 262 from the locking track 266. A resilient member 270 (See
With reference to
To unlock the belt clip attachment device 100 from the mobile phone 110, the belt clip attachment device 100 is pressed towards the mobile phone 110, rotated in a direction opposite to that shown in
Although the belt clip attachment device 100 is described as being attached to the battery compartment door latch 160, in alternative embodiments, the mobile phone 110 may have an alternative configuration where the belt clip attachment device 100 attaches to the rear side 140 of the mobile phone 110 at an alternative location.
With reference to
The belt attachment section 300 includes a back plate 320 and a clip 330 pivotally attached to the back plate 320 by a pivot mechanism 340. The pivot mechanism 340 preferably includes a spring (not shown) to urge the clip 330 in the position shown in
The phone attachment section 310 includes an elongated narrow frame 380. A rear portion 390 of the frame 380 slidably receives an actuation member or plunger 400. The actuation member 400 includes side flanges that are slidably received by a track of the rear portion 390 of the frame 380. An upper part of the actuation member 400 includes a broad thumb-engagement portion 410. A lower part of the actuation member 400 include a hole that slidably receives a movable locking tang 420. The movable locking tang 420 and the actuation member 400 preferably include respective springs (not shown) to urge the tang 420 and the actuation member 400 in the positions shown in
A front portion 430 of the frame 380 has a substantially C-shaped configuration with an elongated central recess 440 for slidably receiving the cylindrical hub 250 of the belt clip attachment device 100 and opposite tracks 450 for slidably receiving the belt clip engagement member 240 of the belt clip attachment device 100.
When the belt clip attachment device 100 (with attached mobile phone 110) is slid to the position shown in
In the embodiment of the belt clip attachment device 100 shown, the belt clip attachment device 100 includes eight projections 244, connection portions 246, allowing the belt clip attachment device 100 (and mobile phone 110) to be oriented in eight different positions relative to the users belt in 45 degree increments (i.e., 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270, or 315 degrees relative to the user's belt). In alternative embodiments, the number of projections 244, connection portions 246 may be a number other than eight (e.g., 0, 1, 2, 3, etc.).
To remove the belt clip attachment device 100 (and mobile phone 110) from the belt clip 120, the broad thumb-engagement portion 410 is pressed with the user's thumb, causing the actuation member 400 to disengage the movable locking tang 420. The belt clip attachment device 100 may then be slid freely upward and out of the elongated central recess 440 and tracks 450 of the belt clip 120.
In a similar fashion, a user may change the orientation of the belt clip attachment device 100 (and mobile phone 110) relative to a user's belt. After disengaging the movable locking tang 420, the belt clip attachment device 100 (and mobile phone 110) may be slid upward and rotated to the desired orientation relative to the user's belt, and slid downward to the position shown in
The push, twist, and lock feature of the universal belt clip attachment device 100 provides an easy, convenient way to attach and secure the universal belt clip attachment device 100 to the mobile phone 100. The universal belt clip attachment device 100 may be used with a variety of different mobile phones 110 as long as the mobile phones 110 are configured for attachment thereto with the universal belt clip attachment device 100. As a result, the belt clip 120 may be used with a variety of different mobile phones 110. Further, the universal belt clip attachment device 100 and belt clip 120 allow the user to easily orient one's mobile phone 110 in a variety of different orientations relative to the user's belt in addition to the standard orientation provided by existing belt clips and adapters (i.e., perpendicular and upright relative the user's belt or parallel to a user's belt). The belt clip attachment device 100 may also be connected to a wide variety of generic belt clips currently on the market.
It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that still further changes and modifications in the actual concepts described herein can readily be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
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20050040192 A1 | Feb 2005 | US |