Patent Application
20050205737
1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to cradles of coupling to portable electronic devices, and more specifically to a cradle capable having a plurality of detachable latches, where the latches have different geometric dimensions so as to enable the cradle to couple to electronic devices having different geometric form factors.
2. Background Art
While just a few years ago cellular telephones were a rare and exotic sight, today most everyone owns a cellular telephone. With cellular service rates falling below the rates for conventional land-line service, more and more people are using cellular telephones to stay connected with the world. Manufacturers are constantly turning out new phones with new features, including cameras, color screens and MP3 players.
While each of these new phones includes some common features, one thing that they seldom have in common is their shape. It is rare for phones from different manufacturers to ever have the same geometric shape, also known as a “form factor”. Even within a single manufacturer's product line, phones often have different shapes and sizes. By way of example, the V60 line of phones manufactured by Motorola includes several phones with slightly different form factors. For instance, the V60i phone has a slightly different shape from the V60p, even though both are part of the V60 line. Although the two phones both “flip” (i.e. they are fold from open to closed and vice versa), have curved contours, and look very similar from a distance, the V60i measures 3.42×1.77×0.97”, while the V60p measures 3.42×1.77×1.44”. In other words, while they may look similar, the V60p is slightly thicker than the V60i.
This plurality of form factors places a heavy burden on the accessory manufacturer. The designers who create holsters, battery chargers, hands-free accessories and vehicular adaptors must create a unique line of accessories for each phone, as each phone has a unique size and shape. This great number of accessories increases the end cost to the consumer, as the accessory manufacturing plant must change production lines to produce small batches of unique accessories, as opposed to producing a large batch of accessories with a uniform size.
There is thus a need for an electronic device accessory that is capable of coupling to multiple electronic devices, even when the multiple electronic devices have different form factors.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is now described in detail. Referring to the drawings, like numbers indicate like parts throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims, the following terms take the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise: the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on.”
As illustrated and described herein, a cradle for an electronic device is provided. The cradle, suitable for coupling to a portable electronic device, such as a phone, radio, pager, PDA or MP3 player, has a common body with interchangeable latches. By providing a common body, accessory design is simplified in that a single part may be used with electronic devices having a variety of form factors, simply by changing the detachable latch. The cradle and latch combination of the present invention is well suited to applications like chargers, power supplies, hands-free vehicular adaptors and car kits. It may equally be applied to holsters and other holding devices as well.
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The aperture 101 sits at the back of a latch recess 103. The latch recess 103 allows the latch to sit within the body 100 flush against an electronic device receiving surface 104. It is best that the latch and receiving surface 104 form a smooth, continuous plane so that the electronic device does not snag upon insertion or removal from the cradle. To better facilitate this smooth plane, a rear support recess 106 is provided. When the latch is coupled to the body, the rear support recess 106 provides a rear support mechanism against which the latch may rest. The latch recess 103 also provides alignment guidance when one inserts the latch into the aperture 101.
A rotation support 105 is provided to keep the latch from rotating when inserted into the body 100. As will be described in more detail below, one method of actuating the latch is by using a thumb to bend the latch as a cantilever beam. The rotation support 105 provides an opposing force to the latch, thereby facilitating the cantilever action.
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The retention latch catch 102 is also visible in
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The latch 300 includes a clasp 301 for coupling to a portable electronic device. The clasp 301 of this embodiment is effectively a protrusion extending from the latch 300, which is designed to mate with a détente disposed upon the portable electronic device. A user decouples the clasp 301 by applying a force to the thumb release 302. This, in turn, causes the clasp arm 303 to deform as a cantilever beam. This bending causes the clasp 301 to lift out of the détente in the portable electronic device, thereby freeing the device from the cradle.
The clasp arm 303 has an associated clasp arm length 304. As will be seen with the discussion of
The latch 300 further includes a rear support 305. The rear support 305 fits within the rear support recess 106 of the body 100. The rear support 306 essentially becomes a continuation of the device receiving surface 104, and may provide support to the portable electronic device upon insertion into the cradle.
A stabilization support 306 is provided. The stabilization support 306 rests against the back of the device receiving surface 104 in the body 100 of the cradle when the latch 300 is inserted. The stabilization support 306 provides mechanical support when the clasp arm 303 is either coupled to a portable electronic device, or is being actuated as a cantilever beam.
A latch arm 307 extends from the latch 300 and couples to the retention latch 308. The latch arm and retention latch 308 serve as a means for coupling to the body 100. When the latch 300 is inserted into the aperture 101, it is the latch arm 307 that slides through the latch guide 200. While passing through the latch guide 200, the latch arm actuates as a cantilever beam due to the retention latch 308 moving against the solid surface of the body 100. To ease this insertion, the retention latch 308 includes an insertion ramp 309. The latch 300 couples to the body when the retention latch 308 mates with the retention latch catch 102. Note that the reason for the taper on one side 201 of the retention latch catch 102 now becomes apparent: it is for mechanically accommodating the insertion ramp 309 of the retention latch 308.
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Another way to accommodate electronic devices having varying form factors is by way of the clasp. Note that the clasp 404 of the second latch 400 is geometrically equivalent to the clasp 301 of the first latch 300, in that the clasps 404,301 are essentially protrusions extending from their respective clasp arms 401,303. Another way to accommodate multiple electronic devices is to make the clasps 404,301 geometrically dissimilar. For example, one clasp may be a rectangular protrusion, while the other clasp may actually be a concave détente capable of receiving a protrusion disposed on the electronic device. It will be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that a wide variety of latches may be made by using a common means for coupling to the housing and dissimilar clasp means. By way of example, one clasp or latching means may include a lock, while another might include a buckle, and so forth.
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The latches 300,400 include a first and second means of coupling to the body 800,403, respectively. As the latch receiving means 803 is common, the first and second means of coupling to the body 800,403 are geometrically equivalent. With each latch 300,400, the retention latch 308 and retention latch arm 307 will be inserted into the latch guide 200 until the retention latch 308 mates with the retention latch catch 102. This mating allows the rear support 305 to become coplanar with the electronic device receiving surface 104.
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While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is clear that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions, and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.
