Patent Grant
11470952
The present invention relates to a finger grip for a smart device, and more particularly, to a finger grip for a smart device that is attached to one side of an outer surface of the smart device in such a manner as to be fitted to a user's finger to allow the smart device to be more stably held by the user's finger, so that while the smart device is being used by the user, his or her hands become free.
As the applications of mobile devices like smart phones to social lives have been increasingly widened, currently, the frequency of their usage has become gradually increased, and if a smart phone is held by a user's hands for long hours, accordingly, a given load is absolutely applied to the user.
Particularly, sizes of display screens for the smart phones recently sold are increased to satisfy demands of users, and accordingly, users who have relatively small hands have to be especially careful while they are using their smart phone.
When the smart phone is used at a given place, for example, when navigation of the smart phone is used during the smart phone user drives his or her car, the user's both hands are not free, which causes safety accidents. As technologies on an operating system and a touch screen for the smart phone have been developed, besides, a size of the touch screen is increased, so that it is a little hard to manipulate the touch screen only by the user's one hand. Further, it is extremely hard for women who have small hands and people who use their smart phone before falls asleep to manipulate the smart phone only by their one hand, and accordingly, they may fall down their smart phone, which causes the smart phone to be damaged or even broken.
So as to solve the above-mentioned problems, a mounting stand for a smart phone is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-2016-0006733, but the conventional mounting stand just functions to mount the smart phone on an arbitrary place, thereby still making it inconvenient in manipulating the smart phone on the user's hands.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a finger grip for a smart device that is capable of more stably holding the smart device through a variable sheet fitted to a user's finger and also adjusting the variable sheet's size by means of a plurality of protrusions formed on the guide sheet according to the user's finger thickness.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a finger grip for a smart device that can be made by means of heat fusion, without any separate adhesive, so that the finger grip does not give any harm to the human body, bonding forces among components are improved to minimize damage or deformation of a product, and a manufacturing process is simplified to improve productivity and economical effects.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a finger grip for a smart device that is capable of maintaining a fixed state of a variable sheet by means of protrusion portions to allow the smart device to be mounted on an arbitrary place and also adjusting an angle of the smart device mounted on the arbitrary place through the adjustment of the variable sheet.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a finger grip for a smart device that is capable of rotating a guide sheet so that in the state where the smart device is held by a user, the smart device can rotate freely.
To accomplish the above-mentioned objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a finger grip for a smart device including: a bonding sheet having a bonding surface attached to one side of an outer surface of the smart device, the bonding surface having a punched portion formed on one side of a top surface thereof, and a protection film for protecting the bonding surface; a guide sheet coupled to one side surface of the bonding sheet and having a guide slot formed on one side thereof and a coupling groove formed on the other side thereof; a variable sheet laminated on one side surface of the guide sheet and having a fusion portion formed correspondingly to the coupling groove and a slide pin formed protrudingly therefrom to pass through the guide slot; a fixing rivet coupled to the slide pin of the variable sheet to prevent the slide pin from escaping from the guide slot; and a printed film coupled to one side surface of the variable sheet, wherein the guide slot of the guide sheet includes at least one or more protruding portions protruding inwardly therefrom to fix the slide pin in position thereto, while the slide pin is reciprocatedly moving therealong, and an auxiliary groove adapted to seat a head of the fixing rivet thereonto to prevent the head from protruding outwardly therefrom, and the protruding portions having first protrusions formed on the outside of the guide slot with respect to a center of the guide sheet in such a manner as to be symmetrical to each other on both sides of the inner peripheral surface of the guide slot to allow the variable sheet to be kept in the state of coming into close contact with the guide sheet.
According to the present invention, desirably, the protruding portions have a plurality of second protrusions spaced apart from each other by a given distance on one side of the inner peripheral surface of the guide slot in the opposite direction to the first protrusions to allow the variable sheet to be kept in the state of being spaced apart from the guide sheet, while the spaced distance is being step by step adjusted.
According to the present invention, desirably, the coupling groove includes a concave-convex portion formed on the surface thereof so that the coupling groove is firmly fixed to the fusion portion.
According to the present invention, desirably, the bonding sheet, the guide sheet, the variable sheet, and the fixing rivet are coupled to one another by means of any one selected from heat fusion, ultrasonic fusion, and bonding.
According to the present invention, desirably, the guide sheet includes at least one or more fixing members made of a magnetic material so that the smart device is attached to a predetermined position.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Now, the present invention is disclosed with reference to the attached drawings wherein the corresponding parts in the embodiments of the present invention are indicated by corresponding reference numerals and the repeated explanation on the corresponding parts will be avoided. If it is determined that the detailed explanation on the well known technology related to the present invention makes the scope of the present invention not clear, the explanation will be avoided for the brevity of the description.
As shown in
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, first, the bonding sheet 100 includes a bonding surface 110 attached to one side of an outer surface of the smart device 10, the bonding surface 110 having a punched portion 130 formed on one side of a top surface thereof, and a protection film 120 for protecting the bonding surface 110.
At this time, as shown in
Further, the bonding sheet 100 desirably has a form of a silicone gel, but instead of the bonding sheet 100, of course, an adhesive, which does not give any harm to the human body, may be coated on the smart device 10. Otherwise, a separate bonding member like a double face tape may be provided. Various members may be freely adopted unless they are separated easily from the smart device 10 after attached thereto.
At this time, as shown in
Through the formation of the punched portion 130, an area (the top surface of the bonding sheet 100 when viewed from
Further, the punched portion 130 has the corresponding shape to the guide slot 210 of the guide sheet 200 and is adapted to prevent a head 410 of the fixing rivet 400 from being frictional with the bonding sheet 100 according to the movement of the variable sheet 300 and also to allow the head 410 of the fixing rivet 400 to be spaced apart from the smart device 10 by a thickness of the bonding sheet 100, so that the variable sheet 300 can be gently deformed.
If there is no punched portion 130 on the bonding sheet 100, for example, a separate structure has to be provided to prevent the bonding sheet 100 from coming into contact with the head 410 of the fixing rivet 400, which undesirably causes workability and productivity of the finger grip to be decreased, and further, the area formed by attaching the bonding sheet 100 to the smart device 10 is larger than the area formed by attaching the bonding sheet 100 to the guide sheet 200, so that since an external force generated from a user is applied to the relatively smaller area, the bonding sheet 100 is easily separated from the guide sheet 200. Therefore, it is desirable that the punched portion 130 is formed on the bonding sheet 100.
On the other hand, as shown in
At this time, the guide sheet 200 is desirably made of ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) resin having excellent impact and heat resistance. Of course, the guide sheet 200 may be made of other synthetic resins or metals, but it is not limited particularly thereto.
The guide sheet 200 made of the ABS resin can prevent the smart device 10 from being damaged or deformed due to heating of the smart device 10 or impacts like drop of the smart device 10.
On the other hand, as shown in
At this time, the variable sheet 300 is desirably made of a TPU (Thermoplastic Poly Urethane) material having excellent elasticity and strength, but it is not limited particularly thereto.
Further, the fixing rivet 400 is coupled to the slide pin 320 of the variable sheet 300 to prevent the slide pin 320 from escaping from the guide slot 210 and includes the head 410 seated onto an auxiliary groove 212 of the guide sheet 200 and a shaft 420 adapted to pass through the guide slot 210 in such a manner as to be coupled to the slide pin 320 of the variable sheet 300.
Furthermore, the printed film 500 is coupled to one side surface of the variable sheet 300 and is made of a transparent or semi-transparent material, while having various logos or patterns printed on the outer surface thereof.
On the other hand, an explanation on operations of the guide sheet 200 and the variable sheet 300 of the finger grip according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be given with reference to
First, the guide slot 210 of the guide sheet 200 is adapted to reciprocatedly move the slide pin 320 of the variable sheet 300 therealong and includes at least one or more protruding portions 211 protruding inwardly therefrom to fix the slide pin 320 in position thereto and the auxiliary groove 212 adapted to seat the head 410 of the fixing rivet 400 thereonto to prevent the head 410 from protruding outwardly therefrom.
In this case, desirably, an inner diameter of the guide slot 210 is equal to or larger than an outer diameter of the shaft 420 coupled to the slide pin 320, so that the slide pin 320 can slide inside the guide slot 210.
Further, desirably, an inner diameter of the auxiliary groove 212 is equal to or larger than an outer diameter of the head 410 coupled to the slide pin 320.
At this time, the protruding portions 211 include first protrusions 215 formed on the outside of the guide slot 210 with respect to the center of the guide sheet 200 in such a manner as to be symmetrical to each other on both sides of the inner peripheral surface of the guide slot 210 to allow the variable sheet 300 to be kept in the state of coming into close contact with the guide sheet 200.
In detail, as shown in
Further, the protruding portions 211 include a plurality of second protrusions 216 spaced apart from each other by a given distance on one side of the inner peripheral surface of the guide slot 210 in the opposite direction to the first protrusions 215 to allow the variable sheet 300 to be kept spaced apart from the guide sheet 200, while the spaced distance is being step by step adjusted.
In detail, as shown in
Through the formation of the protruding portions 211, like this, the variable sheet 300 is deformable according to various finger thicknesses of users, and if the smart device 10 is mounted on an arbitrary place, a mounting angle of the smart device 10 can be adjusted by means of the variable sheet 300.
Also, as shown in
At this time, the concave-convex portions have surface roughness in a range of Ra 3 to 10, and desirably, surface roughness of Ra 5.
In this case, if the surface roughness is less than Ra 3, a bonding force may be decreased upon heat fusion as will be discussed later, and contrarily, if the surface roughness is more than Ra 10, gaps (pores) may occur on a portion where the fusion portion 310 and the coupling groove 220 are brought into contact with each other, thereby causing a bonding force to be deteriorated.
Otherwise, the coupling groove 220 may have the same shape as the slide pin 320 and the fixing rivet 400, which of course helps the variable sheet 300 and the guide sheet 200 firmly fixed to each other.
Also, as shown in
At this time, the prevention projection 230 is adapted to prevent foreign matters like dust introduced from the outside by means of the bonding force of the bonding sheet 100 from sticking to the finger grip, thereby avoiding the contamination of the finger grip. Desirably, the bonding sheet 100 is accommodated inside the prevention projection 230.
Moreover, the bonding sheet 100, the guide sheet 200, the variable sheet 300, and the fixing rivet 400 are coupled to one another by means of any one selected from heat fusion, ultrasonic fusion, and bonding.
Accordingly, they are bonded by means of the heat fusion, without any separate adhesive, so that they do not give any harm to the human body, bonding forces among the parts are improved to minimize damage or deformation of a product, and their manufacturing process is simplified to improve productivity and economical effects.
On the other hand, an explanation on a finger grip for a smart device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be given with reference to
First, as shown in
At this time, the guide sheet 200 has a fixing groove 240 formed on one side of the outer surface thereof and seating protrusions 250 formed on both side end portions thereof in a longitudinal direction thereof.
Further, the rotary sheet 600 has a rotary hole 610 formed on one side of the outer surface thereof in such a manner as to correspond to the fixing groove 240, a shaft screw 620 adapted to pass through the rotary hole 610 in such a manner as to be thus fixed to the fixing groove 240 on one side end thereof, an elastic pad 630 adapted to allow the shaft screw 620 to be moveable up and down inside the rotary hole 610, and seating grooves 640, as will be discussed later, formed on an inner surface thereof in such a manner as to correspond to the seating protrusions 250.
On the other hand,
Now, the operations of the guide sheet 200 and the rotary sheet 600 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be explained.
In this case, in the state where the guide sheet 200 is held by the user, the user's force is applied to a downward direction (with respect to
After that, the shaft screw 620 moves downward inside the rotary hole 610 by means of the elastic pad 630, and accordingly, the seating protrusions 250 are separated from the seating grooves 640 to allow the guide sheet 200 to rotate.
Next, if the guide sheet 200 is released from the user's hand, it moves to an upward direction by means of the elastic restoring force of the elastic pad 630, thereby finishing the rotation of the guide sheet 200.
At this time, as shown in
On the other hand, as shown in
At this time, the fixing members 260 are desirably made of a magnetic material like a metal or magnet to allow the smart device 10 to be freely mounted on a given position, and further, the guide sheet 200 has accommodation slots 270 formed on the surface thereof to accommodate the fixing members 260 therein.
Further, for example, the given position may be a ventilation hole or a dashboard in a vehicle, and also, a separate holder in which magnets are built may be provided on the given position so as to achieve firm attachment.
Through the arrangement of the fixing members 260, the smart device 10 can be easily attached to arbitrary positions, without any restriction in places.
As described above, the finger grip for the smart device according to the present invention can more stably hold the smart device through the variable sheet fitted to the user's finger and also can adjust the variable sheet's size by means of the plurality of protrusions formed on the guide sheet according to the user's finger thickness.
In addition, the finger grip for the smart device according to the present invention can be made by means of the heat fusion, without any separate adhesive, so that the finger grip does not give any harm to the human body, bonding forces among the components are improved to minimize damage or deformation of a product, and a manufacturing process is simplified to improve productivity and economical effects.
Further, the finger grip for the smart device according to the present invention can maintain the fixed state of the variable sheet by means of the protrusion portions to allow the smart device to be mounted on an arbitrary place and also can adjust the angle of the smart device mounted on the arbitrary place through the adjustment of the variable sheet.
Additionally, the finger grip for the smart device according to the present invention can rotate the guide sheet so that in the state where the smart device is held by the user, the smart device can rotate freely.
The present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments. In this case, terms used in this application are used to only describe specific exemplary embodiments and are not intended to restrict the present invention. Accordingly, persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2017-0124612 | Sep 2017 | KR | national |
This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/012,984, filed on Jun. 20, 2018, which claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0124612 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Sep. 26, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20190281965 A1 | Sep 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16012984 | Jun 2018 | US |
| Child | 16428992 | US |
