1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a portable electronic device protective case that has incorporated into its design a frame and mechanism to facilitate the housing of an extendable and retractable reading assistance lens assembly.
The present invention primarily relates to portable electronic devices such cellphone/mobile phones, iPhone™ communication devices, personal digital assistant devices and the like. More particularly, it relates to hard protective carrying cases for such devices, which have enhanced capabilities beyond their protective properties.
2. Background Art
Protective cases for personal electronic devices are well known and in common use. Personal electronic communications devices that consumers carry very usually on their person are subject to damage through normal use. To this end, prior art has developed a variety of protective cases in which the portable electronic device is housed when carried by the consumer.
There are three things that virtually everyone in the developed world will have on their person (or within reach) at all times: their keys, their wallet/purse/Credit Card and their mobile phone. The other critically important thing to have on hand for a great many people is their reading glasses.
Those people requiring magnification assistance for comfortable reading will invariably have their (very likely expensive) prescription reading glasses as diagnosed and supplied by an Optometrist. In addition to their expensive prescription glasses they will have any number of cheap non-prescription magnified reading assistance glasses distributed about their home and office or car. Despite the number of spare reading glasses secreted about their usual environs it is when those clear vision challenged persons are away from their usual environs that the necessity of being able to read a single line on a menu or a single word on a label that the absence of their reading glasses is most distressing.
The inevitable situation then occurs whereby the use of reading glasses would be very convenient to quickly read a menu or wine label or other small typeface written material. Carrying your reading glasses everywhere is a burden that those that need that reading assistance have to bear. Given the opportunity not to have to bother is an option that will be taken up by many.
It is therefore the object of this invention to overcome those irritating, embarrassing and unforeseen moments of reading assistance absence.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved device case incorporating a reading lens that can be used for providing a deployable reading lens with a device case. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the device case incorporating a reading lens according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provide an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a deployable reading lens with a device case.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of protective cases for personal electronic devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved device case incorporating a reading lens, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved device case incorporating a reading lens and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a device case incorporating a reading lens which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a protective case for a portable electronic device including a reading assistance lens assembly, and a case housing. The reading assistance lens assembly includes a housing having a front, back and side perimeter, and at least one lens associated with said housing. The case housing includes a frame, and an extension/retraction mechanism attached to the frame. The frame is configured to provide the reading assistance lens assembly to be extended and recessed within the protective case. The reading assistance lens assembly can be deployed by a sliding assembly or a biased hinge assembly or a spring loaded, switch operated assembly or a manually operated rotating arm assembly.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The case housing of the present invention may also include a movable switch, a pivot point, and a spring element. The switch can be moveable in and out of contact with the reading assistance lens assembly. The pivot point can be rotatably coupled to the reading assistance lens assembly. The spring element can be in biased contact with the reading assistance lens assembly so as to bias the reading assistance lens assembly about the pivot point when the switch is moved out of contact with the reading assistance lens assembly.
The case housing of the present invention may also include a moveable button operatively associated with a flexible arm that is operatively associated with a hook, a coil spring, and a pivot point. The reading assistance lens assembly may also include an eye. With the hook configured to be releasable engageable with the eye upon activation of the button. With the pivot point being rotatably coupled to the reading assistance lens assembly. With the coil spring configured to be in biased contact with the reading assistance lens assembly so as to bias the reading assistance lens assembly about the pivot point when the hook is released from said eye of the reading assistance lens assembly.
There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved device case incorporating a reading lens that has all of the advantages of the prior art protective cases for personal electronic devices and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved device case incorporating a reading lens that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved device case incorporating a reading lens that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such device case incorporating a reading lens economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new device case incorporating a reading lens that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Therefore in one form of the invention there is proposed a reading assistance lens set into the back of a portable electronic device protective case, including:
a lens of a size and rigidity to be able to be machined into a shape so as to be hinged into the case material;
a lens that is of a magnifying or dioptre strength so as to be useful to a person requiring same;
a lens that is of a minimal thickness so as to be able to be slid away into the recess in the case to keep it protected and secure;
a lens that comprises two lenses set slightly apart to facilitate viewing through both eyes; and a lens comprising a single eye lens or twin eye lens configuration with a nose bridge for comfort and focal length assistance.
Alternatively, the lens being drilled and pivoted as a means of attachment to the case.
Alternatively, the lens being a loose item that can be withdrawn entirely out of the back of the case or being a loose item that is secured with an extended and then retracted action.
The case being supplied with a variety of magnification dioptre strength lens for the user to choose from.
The lens frame assembly can be supplied sans lens giving the user the option to have their own prescription lens fitted by their optometrist.
The lens being lightweight but strong enough to withstand constant use.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated embodiments of the invention.
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.
Referring now to the drawings and particularly to
The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the embodiments and the following description to refer to the same and like parts.
The present invention relates to a portable, self-contained lens for the assistance to reading small printed material in the absence of the users normal reading glasses.
An important feature of the invention is that the user may not normally require reading glasses but will use the inherent magnification characteristic of the lens in times of bad light or exceptionally small print.
Another important feature of the preferred embodiment is the ability for the said lens to withdraw entirely back into its recess during non-use and for protection.
In another embodiment the method of attachment will be via a pivot point machined into the case and lens.
In another embodiment the method of withdrawing the lens would be by spring loaded action release with a switch.
In another embodiment the method of use would be by detaching the reading lens assembly from its deployed frame and thereafter use, re-attaching into its frame and retracting back into its case.
In another embodiment the reading assistance lens is protected within its own hard case with attachment to any electronic device by way of double sided pressure tape.
In
In
In
In
In
In
The reading assistance lens assembly base 10, including the twin lens 11, is shown in
In
To deploy the lens assembly 10, the release mechanism button 24 is operated which acts upon the flexible arm 22 to pull the hook 23 downwards and out of the eye 21, thereby releasing the lens assembly base 10 and causing the coiled spring 20 tension to rotate out of the housed position to a perpendicular user position. The rotation of the coiled spring 20 acts on the lens assembly 10 which rotates the lens assembly 10 about the pivot pole 19. This can be seen in
In
The reading assistance lens assembly base 10, including the twin lens 11, is shown in
In
In
The method of withdrawing the lens can be similar to that on a pocket knife; i.e. with a fingernail groove to facilitate grasping and extending thereof or in a spring loaded switch operated switchblade style of extended and retracted action.
In summary the portable electronic device protective case, LenZcase, is a product comprising a standard portable electronic device protective case with access to a reading assistance lens for quick and convenient use in the absence of usual prescription reading glasses.
The present invention relates predominately to assisting those persons who normally use reading glasses but for any number of reasons do not have them available at the time of need.
Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.
In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprising” is used in the sense of “including”, i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.
While embodiments of the device case incorporating a reading lens have been described in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and variations thereto are possible, all of which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. And although providing a deployable reading lens with a device case have been described, it should be appreciated that the device case incorporating a reading lens herein described is also suitable for an device cover or apparatus associated with reading.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2013901492 | Apr 2013 | AU | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/AU2014/000474 | 4/28/2014 | WO | 00 |