Patent Application
20110319147
n/a
The present invention relates to mobile device covers and more specifically to a protection device for multi-piece slider cellular phones.
In today's world, cellular telephones have become so popular that it is a rare event to see someone who does not own or use a cellular telephone. Cell phones are no longer just being used for voice communications, but also for data communication and data access such as email, text messaging, access to the Internet, and access to social networking sites like Facebook® and Twitter®. However, many users find themselves having to replace their phones, not because of any internal malfunctions, but because they are constantly dropping their phones leading to the phone's malfunction or resulting in scratches to the phone's outer surface, thereby degrading its aesthetic appearance.
Many cell phone users cover their phones with rubber or soft coverings, which lessen the impact of dropped phones. Different cell phone covers are designed to fit different makes and models. Thus, a cover for a Blackberry® Treo® would be shaped differently than a cover for an iPhone®. Each of these cell phone covers are typically a one-piece cover designed to conform to the shape and size of the phone and that slips over the phone, covering the back and side portions of the phone while allowing the screen and keyboard on the front of the phone to still be accessed by the user.
While many cell phones are one-piece devices, slider phones include two components in a sliding relationship with each other. Typically, the screen is on a first section of the phone and the keyboard is on another section. The two sections slide away from each other in opposing directions, either vertically, or horizontally, allowing the user to access the keyboard which may have been hidden when the phone is not in use and the two sections of the phone are positioned one on top of the other. Slider phones have become very popular, especially with younger users such as teenagers and college students. However, unlike the typical, one-piece cell phone covers, the covers for the slider phones have proven inadequate due to the unique design of the sliding-type of phones.
Existing covers for one-piece cell phones are not adaptable for slider phones since slider phones do not have any areas where the one-piece covers can attach to without impacting undesired force on the sliding phone's hinging/sliding mechanism. Thus, using two separate one-piece cell phone covers for slider phones is impractical. Other two-piece covers designed specifically for slider phones include an upper and a lower portion that are not connected to each other. Rather, each cover portion covers a corresponding portion of the slider phone. The upper portion covers the outer perimeter of the upper portion of the phone, i.e., the outer perimeter of the screen portion, while the lower portion covers the keyboard section of the slider phone.
However, this design has proven inadequate for a number of reasons. Because present slider phone covers are comprised of two discrete pieces, they do not prevent damage to the slider phone caused by the prying load between the two sliding parts of the phone. This prying effect, which imparts torque on the phone cover components, is known as the “oreo” effect and occurs when the upper and/or lower portions of the phone are twisted with respect to each other. This motion damages the sliding mechanism of the slider phone. Also, since the two portions of the cover are not connected to each other, they do not provide complete protection around the slider phone, i.e., at the portions of the phone where the upper and lower sections are connected to each other. This leads to cosmetic damage to the slider pone at the locations where the upper and lower sections are attached.
Therefore, what is needed is a cover for slider phones that alleviates the aforementioned problems with known two-piece slider phone covers.
The present invention advantageously provides a method and apparatus for protecting slider-type cellular phones.
In one aspect of the invention, a protection device for a cellular phone is provided where the cellular phone includes a first portion in slidable engagement with a second portion. The protection device includes a first protection cover for receiving the first portion of the cellular phone. The first protection cover includes a first pair of longitudinal side walls, each longitudinal side wall including a guide rail. The protection device also includes a second protection cover for receiving the second portion of the cellular phone. The second protection cover is slidably engagable with the first protection cover. The second protection cover includes a second pair of longitudinal side walls, where each of the second pair of side walls includes an inner surface and an outer surface and a groove disposed along the inner surface such that each guide rail is slidably engagable with a corresponding groove.
In another aspect of the invention, a protection device for a cellular phone is provided where the cellular phone has a first portion in slidable engagement with a second portion. The protection device includes a first protection cover for receiving the first portion of the cellular phone and a second protection cover for receiving the second portion of the cellular phone, where the second protection cover is slidably engaged with the first protection cover. The first protection cover and the second protection cover slide horizontally in opposite directions with respect to each other up to a first separation distance apart. The protection devices also includes an extension slidingly engageable with the first protection cover and the second protection cover. The extension allows the first protection cover and the second protection cover to slide horizontally away from each other to a second separation distance, the second separation distance being greater than the first separation distance.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a method for protecting a cellular telephone is provided. The cellular telephone has a first portion in slidable engagement with a second portion. The method includes inserting the first portion of the cellular phone within a first protection cover, the first protection cover arranged to receive the first portion of the cellular phone. The first protection cover includes a first pair of longitudinal side walls, each longitudinal side wall including a guide rail. The method also includes inserting the second portion of the cellular phone within a second protection cover, the second protection cover arranged to receive the second portion of the cellular phone. The second protection cover is slidably engagable with the first protection cover. The second protection cover includes a second pair of longitudinal side walls, each of the second pair of side walls including an inner surface and an outer surface and a groove disposed along the inner surface such that each guide rail is slidably engagable with a corresponding groove.
A more complete understanding of the present invention, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Before describing in detail exemplary embodiments that are in accordance with the present invention, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components related to implementing a protection cover for slider cellular phones. Accordingly, the system components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein
As used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements.
One embodiment of the present invention advantageously provides a protection device for a slider cellular phone that includes a first protection cover for receiving a first portion of the slider cellular phone and a second protection cover for receiving the second portion of the slider cellular phone, where the second protection cover is in an interlocked sliding relationship with the first protection cover. During the sliding motion, the first and second components of the protection device are interlocked with each other thus preventing undesired torque due to twisting of the first and second protection covers.
The present disclosure will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of particular embodiments of the invention which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention to a specific embodiment but are for explanatory purposes.
Referring now to the drawing figures in which like reference designators refer to like elements, there is shown in
Protection cover 10 can be made of any suitable protection material such as rubber, hard or soft plastic, or a combination of these materials that will protect the phone's outer surfaces. In one embodiment, the materials are substantially rigid. Top section 12 is in a vertical sliding relationship with lower section 14. Protection cover 10 receives a slider cell phone 16, as shown in
Top portion 12 has a smaller width than the width of bottom portion 14 thus allowing each guide rail 18 to slide within its corresponding groove railing 20. Groove railing 20 is an elongated groove cut along the interior side wall of bottom portion 14. Thus, groove 20 is bounded by an upper and lower lip. Guide rail 18 includes outwards extending substantially horizontal tongue 19 that fits into the groove of groove railing 20. Thus, as top portion 12 slides along bottom portion 14, tongue 19 of groove railing 18 is retained within the groove of groove railing 20 which is formed on the interior wall of bottom portion 14. Because the elongated groove of groove railing 20 is bordered above and below by the interior wall of bottom portion 14, guide rail 18 is retained within groove railing 20. Further, the interlocking of guide rail 18 within groove railing 20 prevents the side-to-side twisting or “OREO” effect that can damage cover 10.
Guide rail 18 may be formed as a part of the bottom edges of top section 12 or may be a separate element that attaches to top section 12. Similarly, the longitudinal groove might be a railing with interior grooves that is attached to the longitudinal sides of bottom section 14 and that receives guide rail 18, as shown in
The interaction between top portion 12 and bottom portion 14 results in a retention of guide railing 18 within groove railing 20 in a direction which is orthogonal to the direction of motion of top portion 12 with respect to bottom portion 14. Further, when a portable device is inserted within cover 10, the portable device prevents the sides of top portion 12 and bottom portion 14 from bowing together, which might otherwise result in unwanted separation of top portion 12 from bottom portion 14. Instead, the portable device tends to exert outward, transverse pressure upon the sides of top portion 12 and bottom portion 14 thus further securing each guide rail 18 within their respective groove railing 20.
In one exemplary embodiment, guide rail 18 can be made of a resin such as polycarbonate (“PC”) resin or polyoxymethylene (“POM”) resin. Groove railing 20 can also be made of PC resin or POM resin. In one embodiment, the guide rail 18 is made of a different resin than groove railing 20 in order to reduce friction that may occur during the sliding motion of top section 12 and bottom section 14 with respect to each other. By using different resin combinations for guide rail 18 and groove railing 20, wear of cover 10 that might occur after extended use is reduced.
In
As shown in
In
Horizontal slider phone 16 includes a left section and a right section, where one of the two sections includes a keyboard and the other section includes the screen. Thus, the user uses the horizontal slider phone 16 by separating the two sections laterally such that a left section 26 is separated from a right section 28 by a first distance. The protective cover 10 depicted in
In another embodiment, protective cover 10 includes an extension mechanism that allows left section 26 and right section 28 slide away from each other a second distance, where the second distance is greater than the first distance, i.e., greater than the distance apart without the extension mechanism. Left section 26 and right section 28 are connected by two extension sliders 30 disposed between the upper and lower transverse ends of left section 26 and right section 28. For simplicity, “left section” or “first section” shall refer to the lower half 26 of horizontal protective cover 10 and “right section” or “second section” shall refer to the upper half 28 of horizontal protective cover 10. The first and second sections need not be in this particular orientation, i.e., the left section 26 may be the upper half of cover 10 while the right section 28 might be the lower half of cover 10.
The aforementioned extension mechanism includes a series of extension sliders and receiving ports. Extension sliders 30, best seen in
Another feature of sliders 30 are their ability to allow the left section 26 and right section 28 to be extended beyond the distance that guide rails 18 and their corresponding grooves would allow the left and right sections to be extended without sliders 30. Normally, left section 26 and right section 28 are extended a first distance as long as guide rails 18 remain in their respective grooves. If separated further, the respective cover sections are no longer directly connected to each other. This might be acceptable if the left and right sections of the horizontal slider phone 16 that has been inserted into protective cover 10 cannot be separated beyond this specified distance. Advantageously, sliders 30 allow the left section 26 and right section 28 of protective cover 10 to be extended beyond the first distance, to a second separation distance.
In use, as the left and right sections of protection cover 10 are separated, sliders 30 move along both the lower row of apertures 34 of left section 26 and the upper row of apertures 32 on right section 28. Thus, as right section 28 is being pulled toward the right, sliders 30 travel in the same direction while maintaining contact with both sections. At a certain point, each guide rail 18 on right section 28 reaches the end of its corresponding groove on left section 26 thus preventing the guide rails 18 from moving any further. However, right section 28 continues to move further right as upper teeth 36 catch their corresponding upper row of apertures 32 of slider 30 thus allowing right section 28 to continue to extend to the right. In this fashion, sliders 30 permit the right section 28 to extend further beyond the original coverage area of protective cover 10 (without the use of sliders 30) while allowing engagement of the left cover 26 and the right cover 28 to be distributed evenly. Sliders 30 and sections 26 and 28 may also includes stops to prevent the overextension of left section 26 and right section 28 when they are being moved away from each other.
While certain features of the embodiments have been illustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the embodiments.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, which is limited only by the following claims.
This application is related to and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/357,700, filed Jun. 23, 2010, entitled MOBILE DEVICE CASE SLIDING RAIL AND LATCH, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61357700 | Jun 2010 | US |
