1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a foldable cover, and in particular, to a foldable cover adapted to protect or support a portable electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
Portable electronic devices are suitable to be carried by a user. However, a portable electronic device may be damaged due to be bumped or hit, or wear down the outer casing, when being carried. In order to avoid damage, a protective cover is generally used to cover the portable electronic device for protection.
In addition, when viewing some information on a portable electronic device such as a tablet PC, the portable electronic device is usually disposed on a supporter with a suitable angle for the user to use. Thus, not only a protective cover is required, but also a supporter, thus to improve the convenience while using. However, buying and carrying multiple items is a burden for the user.
The disclosure provides a foldable cover, adapted to protect or support a portable electronic device. The foldable cover comprises a supporting unit and a fixing unit. The supporting unit comprises a plurality of first separations, a convergent part, and a plurality of first slab-shaped parts, wherein each first separation is connected to the convergent part.
The fixing unit is connected to the supporting unit, so as to fix the portable electronic device. When the first slab-shaped parts are located on the same surface, the supporting unit covers the portable electronic device. When a three dimensional structure is formed by the first separations, the convergent part, and the first slab-shaped parts, the supporting unit supports the portable electronic device.
Based on the three dimensional structure, the foldable cover of the disclosure not only protects the portable electronic device, but can also conveniently turn into a support frame to support the portable electronic device. In addition, the foldable cover of the disclosure can be placed in any directions so as to provide multiple angles to support the portable electronic device.
In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the disclosure more comprehensible, embodiments accompanying figures are described in detail below.
The accompanying drawings constituting a part of this specification are incorporated herein to provide a further understanding of the disclosure. Here, the drawings illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
The disclosure provides a foldable cover 100, adapted to protect or support a portable electronic device 10.
In the embodiment, the connection member 130 is a flexible element. However, in other embodiments, the connection member 130 can be a magnetic element or a locking element. The type of the connection member 130 is not limited thereto.
The supporting unit 110 comprises a plurality of first separations 112, a convergent part 114, and a plurality of first slab-shaped parts 116. Each of the first separations 112 is connected to the convergent part 114, and respectively partitions two adjacent first slab-shaped parts 116. The first slab-shaped parts 116 can be connected to each other through various connecting methods. In the embodiment, two adjacent first slab-shaped parts 116 respectively include a fixing part 116a. Two fixing parts 116a are fixed through a magnetic attraction, so that the supporting unit 110 forms a three dimensional structure so as to support the portable electronic device 10.
As shown in
The fixing unit 120 is used to place and fix the portable electronic device 10. The portable electronic device 10 can be locked to the edge of the fixing unit 120. In an embodiment, the edge of the fixing unit 120 is flexible. The portable electronic device 10 can be fixed to or separated from the fixing unit 120 by simply bending the portion that locks the fixing unit 120 and the portable electronic device 10. Herein, the other fixing methods of the embodiment are omitted. One skilled in the art can use other fixing methods without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
After the two fixing parts 116a are combined, the supporting unit 110 forms a three dimensional structure (as shown in
As shown in
In the embodiment, two fixing parts 116a are magnetic. When two fixing parts 116a of two first slab-shaped parts 116 are leaned against each other, the two fixing parts 116a will be fixed to each other through attraction, to maintain the pyramid shape. Of course, the fixing parts 116a can also be locked or adhered together, and the method for fixing the fixing parts 116a is not limited thereto.
In addition, since the fixing unit 120 is connected to the supporting unit 110 through the connection member 130, when the supporting unit 110 forms a three dimensional structure, the fixing unit 120 can lean against the surface of the three dimensional structure. Thus, regardless of whether the foldable cover 100 is used to protect or support the portable electronic device 10, the portable electronic device 10 does not need to be removed from the fixing unit 120.
When the foldable cover 100 is used to support the portable electronic device 10, the connection member 130 is bent at different portions to adjust the angle of the portable electronic device (
The inner surface 222 comprises an inner edge 222a, and three outer edges 222b. The inner edge 222a of the inner surface 222 close to the supporting unit 210 is not connected to the outer surface 224, and the other three outer edges 222b are flexibly connected to the outer surface 224. The shape of the inner surface 222 is a hollow rectangle, and the material of the inner surface 222 is a soft material, such as leather.
When the portable electronic device 10 is put in or taken out of the fixing unit 220, the inner edge 222a of the inner surface 222 of the fixing unit 220 is pulled away from the outer surface 224 of the fixing unit 220. The inner surface 222 will slightly deform so that the portable electronic device 10 can be put in or taken out of the fixing unit 220. When the portable electronic device 10 is located in the fixing unit 220, the portable electronic device 10 is clamped between the inner surface 222 and the outer surface 224 of the fixing unit 220 so that it will not fall out.
In the embodiment, the shape of the supporting unit 410 is a rectangle, with two long sides and two short sides. The convergent part 414 is located on a perpendicular bisector of the short side of the supporting unit 110. One of the first separations 412 is simultaneously located on the perpendicular bisector. It can be seen from the embodiment and the embodiment of
Each of the first separations 512 is connected to the convergent part 514, and partitions the first slab-shaped parts 516. An end of the two second separations 518 respectively connect to each other, and two second slab-shaped parts 517 are partitioned by two second separations 518. Bending along the second separations 518 can cause two sides of the two slab-shaped parts 517 to be located on different surfaces. This way, the center of gravity of the three dimensional structure that is formed by the supporting unit 510 is moved, so as to increase the stability of the three dimensional structure.
In addition, the fixing unit of the foldable cover 500 of the embodiment further comprises a first locking assembly 540. The first locking assembly 540 is flexibly connected to the supporting unit 510. The portable electronic device 10 comprises a second locking assembly 11, wherein the first locking assembly 540 is used to lock to the second locking assembly 11. When using the foldable cover 500 of the embodiment to protect the portable electronic device 10, the supporting unit 510 of the embodiment covers a face of the portable electronic device 10 by rotating about the first locking assembly 540 as the rotation axis. For example, the supporting unit 510 can cover the screen of the portable electronic device 10, so as to lower the chance of scratching the screen.
The portable electronic device 10 usually comprises a transmission interface 12, so as to transmit data or power. When the using the foldable cover 500 of the embodiment to support the portable electronic device 10, in order to use the portable electronic device 10 at the same time, and perform data transmission or power charging, the locking assembly 540 of the embodiment comprises a first through hole 542.
The supporting unit 510 further comprises a second through hole 519. The first through hole 542 connects through the second through hole 519. When the foldable cover 500 is connected to the portable electronic device 10, the transmission interface 12 is exposed by the first through hole and the second through hole, so that external apparatuses can pass through the first through hole 542 and the second through hole 519 to connect to the transmission interface 12.
The foldable cover 600 further comprises a first extension element 650 and a second extension element 660. The first extension element 650 is flexibly connected to one of the fixing unit 620 or the supporting unit 610. The second extension element 660 is flexibly connected to the fixing unit 620 or the supporting unit 610 not connected to the first extension element 650.
In the embodiment, the first extension element 650 is connected to the fixing element 620, and the second extension element 660 is connected to the supporting element 610. The first extension element 650 is movably fixed to the second extension element 660, so that the portable electronic device 10 is restricted between the supporting element 610 and the fixing element 620.
In addition, the supporting unit 610 respectively comprises a plurality of first separations 612, a convergent part 614, a plurality of first slab-shaped parts 616, two second slab-shaped parts 617, and a pair of second separations 618. Each of the first separations 612 is connected to the convergent part 614, and can partition two adjacent first slab-shaped parts 616. In these first slab-shaped parts 616, two adjacent first slab-shaped parts 616 respectively include a fixing part 616a. The two fixing parts 616a can be fixed together through multiple methods.
In the embodiment, the two fixing parts 616a include a magnetic function. The fixing parts 616a are magnetically fixed to each other when leaned together. However, the method of fixing the two fixing parts 616a is not limited thereto. In addition, in the embodiment, at least one perpendicular bisector of the supporting unit 610 passes through the convergent part 614.
An end of each of the second separations 618 is connected to each other, and two second separations 618 partition two adjacent first slab-shaped parts 617.
In the embodiment, the shape of the supporting unit 610 is a rectangle. The shapes of the pair of fixing parts 616a are similar triangles. The first extension element 650 is movably fixed to the second extension element 660, so as to assure that the portable electronic device 10 is located in the foldable cover.
The first extension element 650 comprises a third slab-shaped part 652, and the second extension element 660 comprises a fourth slab-shaped part 662. In the embodiment, the third slab-shaped part 652 and the fourth slab-shaped part 662 are magnetic elements.
Each of the first separations 712 is connected to one of the two convergent parts 714, and each of the first separations 712 can partition two adjacent first slab-shaped parts 716. The two sets of adjacent first slab-shaped parts 716 respectively include a pair of fixing parts 716a. When using the supporting unit 710 to support the portable electronic device 10, respectively bending the two first separations 712 between the pair of fixing parts 716a causes the two fixing parts 716a to lean and be fixed together. This way the supporting unit 710 is erected (as shown in
To sum up, the foldable cover of the disclosure not only covers the portable electronic device, but can also conveniently deform to turn into a support frame and support the portable electronic device. In addition, the foldable cover of the disclosure can be placed in multiple directions so as to provide multiple angles to support the portable electronic device. Thus, the foldable cover of the disclosure comprises advantages of simple operation, unique forms, multiple functions, and the weight and volume of portable objects to decreasing the user's loading.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention will be defined by the attached claims not by the above detailed descriptions.
This application is a continuation application of and claims the priority benefit of a prior application Ser. No. 13/585,843, filed on Aug. 15, 2012, now pending. The prior application Ser. No. 13/585,843 claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 61/525,172, filed on Aug. 18, 2011. The entirety of each of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13585843 | Aug 2012 | US |
Child | 14144574 | US |