Patent Application
20130255039
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR 1.71(d).
The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention(s). It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or material, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of USB holding devices and more specifically relates to a holding assembly for a USB flash/thumb drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, USB flash drives are a popular and portable data storage device. A USB drive may be used in place of other storage mediums such as floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, zip drive disks, etc, and may conveniently fit in one's pocket. In most cases, the USB drive is a plug and play device that includes Flash memory for storing data and a USB connector for connecting to a host device. While these devices work well, they are limited in the operations that they can perform. These devices are only configured for storing and transporting stored data (similar to other portable storage mediums) and therefore they do not include processing components, batteries for powering the processing components, or a user interface that enable users to communicate with the processing components.
Due to growing use of flash drives and thumb drives in today's technology-fueled era, it is important that USB drives are conveniently accessible throughout the day. Often times, people forget to take their USB drive with them because it is not yet considered an essential item (such as a wallet, cell phone, keys). As such, people may often discover that a USB drive would be extremely handy in unanticipated situations. However, because it is quite easy to forget a USB drive since they are small, lightweight, and inexpensive, it is not uncommon to be without a USB drive when such an unanticipated situation arises.
Various attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems such as those found in U.S. Pat. and Pub. Nos. 2012/0239836 to Babak Enayati; U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,316,492 to Launce R. Barber; 7,500,858 to Brandon Emerson et al; 7,630,204 to Itzhak Pomerantz; 7,544,073 to David Nguyen et al; and D522,519 to Bennett S. Rubin et al. This prior art is representative of flash drive grips having an attachment mechanism to a key ring. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, a flash grip system should provide a retro-installable holding assembly for a USB flash/thumb drive which may comprise a grip having an article-fastening clip attached thereto so that the flash drive may be easily attached to a belt loop, purse strap, key chain, brief case, etc., for convenient accessibility. Thus, a need exists for a reliable flash grip system and to avoid the above-mentioned problems.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known USB flash drive holding grip art, the present invention provides a novel flash grip system comprising a flash grip assembly which may include a rectangular gripping strip, a pair of USB drive attachers, and a clip fastener for clipping the rectangular gripping strip holding a USB drive to a separate article or object.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a “FLASH GRIP” with carabiner snap hook key ring which allows a flash drive to be easily attached to a belt loop, purse strap, brief case, etc., for convenient accessibility. As an added feature, the sides may be trimmed for a “custom fit” to various sized USB thumb drives.
Flash grip systems are disclosed herein in a preferred embodiment comprising a flash grip assembly, which may comprise a rectangular strip with dimensions of approximately 1½″ width by 4″ height manufactured of a pliable material comprising a foam sheet or other suitable pliable material. The foam sheet may provide a cushiony, ergonomic surface. Further, the rectangular strip has a first-end, a mid-point, and a second-end. The flash grip assembly further comprises a first-attacher preferably comprising a first-adhesive, a second-attacher preferably comprising a second-adhesive, a first-eyelet and a second-eyelet, an article-fastener comprising a carabineer clip, and an article-fastener-securer comprising a loop.
Relationally, the first-end of the rectangular strip is connected to the mid-point, and the mid-point of the rectangular strip is connected to the second-end. The first-end comprises the first-attacher, and the second-end comprises the second-attacher. The first-eyelet and the second-eyelet each may comprise a through-hole. The first-eyelet and the second-eyelet may each comprise a ring about a perimeter of the through-holes for providing a buffer between the article-fastener-securer and the pliable (foam) material of the rectangular strip. Further, the first-eyelet is located between the first-end and the mid-point of the rectangular strip, and the second-eyelet is located between the second-end and the mid-point of the rectangular strip. The rectangular strip is foldable in half about the mid-point such that the first-eyelet and the second-eyelet line up evenly.
The article-fastener-securer may comprise a loop, which may pass through the first-eyelet and the second-eyelet when the rectangular strip is folded in half. The loop is interconnected to the article-fastener. The article-fastener is fastenable to a clippable-article, such as a keychain, a strap of a carrying bag, a brief case, a backpack, a belt loop, or the like.
In the preferred embodiment, the rectangular strip may or may not comprise at least one decoration. The decoration may comprise an adornment (such as a design, insignia, jewel, picture, etc). In use, the flash grip system decorates to personalize the USB flash drive, thereby protecting the USB flash drive from abrasive damage, and improves portability of the USB flash drive via the article-fastener of the flash grip assembly. As such the present invention is convenient to ‘take along’ and its design causes it to be remembered.
A method of use for a flash grip system is also disclosed herein and may comprise the steps of: removing an adhesive sheet from a first-attacher of a first-end of a rectangular strip; placing a USB flash drive on an adhesive surface of the first adhesive; removing the adhesive sheet from a second adhesive of a second-end of the rectangular strip; folding the rectangular strip in half along a mid-point and pressing firmly the second-end of the rectangular strip on the USB flash drive; and attaching the flash grip system to a clippable article via the article-fastener. The method of use may further comprise the optional step of customizing the size of the rectangular strip to best fit the USB flash drive.
The present invention holds significant improvements and serves as a flash grip system. For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and method(s) of use for the present invention, flash grip systems, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present invention discussed herein.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present invention relate to a flash grip system and more particularly to a retro-installable holding assembly for a USB flash/thumb drive which may comprise a grip having an article-fastening clip attached thereto so that the flash drive may be easily attached to a belt loop, purse strap, key chain, brief case, etc., for convenient accessibility.
Generally speaking, the flash grip system may comprise a “FLASH GRIP” with carabineer snap hook key ring which allows a flash drive to be easily attached to a belt loop, purse strap, brief case, etc., for convenient accessibility. As an added feature, the sides may be trimmed for a “custom fit” to various sized USB thumb drives.
Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference there is shown in
As shown, flash grip system 100 may comprise flash grip assembly 102. Flash grip assembly 102 may comprise rectangular strip 200 having first-end 202, mid-point 204, and second-end 206, first-attacher 225, second-attacher 230, first-eyelet 215, second-eyelet 220, article-fastener 120, and article-fastener-securer 125. Flash grip system 100 may be used to hold USB flash drive 110 such that USB flash drive 110 is fastenable to a clippable-article via article-fastener 120 of flash grip assembly 102. By way of example as illustration in
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First-eyelet 215 is located between first-end 202 and mid-point 204 of rectangular strip 200, and second-eyelet 220 is located between second-end 206 and mid-point 204 of rectangular strip 200. Preferably, first-eyelet 215 and second-eyelet 220 are orientated on rectangular strip 200 such that when rectangular strip 200 is folded in half about mid-point 204, the through-holes of first-eyelet 215 and second-eyelet 220 line up evenly, thereby enabling article-fastener-securer 125 to pass there-through. In one embodiment as shown in
In a preferred embodiment, rectangular strip 200 may comprise dimensions of approximately 1½ inch width by 4 inches height. However, it should be appreciated that rectangular strip 200 may comprise smaller or larger dimensions to fit USB flash drive 110 of varying sizes. Rectangular strip 200 may be formed of a pliable material. In one embodiment, rectangular strip 200 may comprise a foam sheet. The foam sheet may provide a lightweight, cushiony, ergonomic surface for holding flash grip system 100. However, it should be noted that rectangular strip 200 may also be formed of leather, felt, vinyl, plastic, or a lightweight metal material.
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It should be noted that the steps described in the method of use can be carried out in many different orders according to user preference. Upon reading this specification, it should be appreciated that, under appropriate circumstances, considering such issues as design preference, user preferences, marketing preferences, cost, structural requirements, available materials, technological advances, etc., other methods of use arrangements such as, for example, different orders within above-mentioned list, elimination or addition of certain steps, including or excluding certain maintenance steps, etc., may be sufficient.
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.
The present application is related to and claims priority from prior provisional application Ser. No. 61/686,315, filed Apr. 3, 2012 which application is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61686315 | Apr 2012 | US |
