Portable electronic device protective cover

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6471056
  • Patent Number
    6,471,056
  • Date Filed
    Friday, July 6, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 29, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Bui; Luan K.
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
A portable electronic device protective cover includes a loop-like plastic peripheral strip fitting the periphery of the electronic device to be protected, the loop-like peripheral strip having an insertion slot through which the electronic device to be protected is inserted into the inside of the portable electronic device protective cover, a transparent plastic top panel peripherally sealed to the top side of the loop-like peripheral strip by a high-frequency heat sealing apparatus, and a transparent plastic bottom panel peripherally sealed to the bottom side of the loop-like peripheral strip by a high-frequency heat sealing apparatus.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a portable electronic device protective cover and, more particularly, to such a protective cover, which fits perfectly the shape of the portable electronic device to be protected.





FIG. 9

illustrates a remote controller protective sheath


1


constructed according to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/568,851, which was filed by the present inventor. This remote controller protective sheath


1


comprises a peripheral strip


11


, a bottom cloth panel


13


, and a transparent top panel


12


. The peripheral strip


11


, the bottom cloth panel


13


and the transparent top panel


12


are respectively attached to a frame mold, and then fastened together by a high-frequency heat sealing apparatus. The remote controller protective sheath


1


has an opening


14


disposed at one end between the two ends of the peripheral strip


11


. The top panel


12


has an extension flap


121


. After insertion of the remote controller


2


through the opening


14


into the inside of the protective sheath


1


, the extension flap


121


is turned back and inserted into the opening


14


to close the opening


14


. When turned back and inserted into the opening


14


, two gaps


122


exist at two sides between the extension flap


121


and the two ends of the peripheral strip


11


, and outside dust may pass through the gaps


122


into the inside of the protective sheath


1


to contaminate the remote controller


2


.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention has been accomplished to provide a portable electronic device protective cover, which eliminates the aforesaid problem. According to one aspect of the present invention, the protective cover comprises a loop-like plastic peripheral strip fitting the periphery of the electronic device to be protected, the loop-like peripheral strip having an insertion slot through which the electronic device to be protected is inserted into the inside of the portable electronic device protective cover, a transparent plastic top panel peripherally sealed to the top side of the loop-like peripheral strip by a high-frequency heat sealing apparatus, and a transparent plastic bottom panel peripherally sealed to the bottom side of the loop-like peripheral strip by a high-frequency heat sealing apparatus. According to another aspect of the present invention, hook and loop materials are provided at the loop-like peripheral strip, and adapted to close/open the insertion slot.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

an exploded view the loop-like peripherals trip, the top panel, the bottom panel, and the mold before the formation of the portable electronic device protective cover according to the present invention.





FIG. 2

is a sectional view showing the loop-like peripheral strip supported in the mold between the top panel and the bottom panel during heat-sealing according to the present invention.





FIG. 3

illustrates the relationship between the protective cover and the remote controller to be protected according to the present invention.





FIG. 4

illustrates hook and loop materials provided at the loop-like peripheral strip and closed according to the present invention.





FIG. 5

is a sectional view in an enlarged scale of a part of FIG.


4


.





FIG. 6

illustrates the relationship between a cellular telephone protective cover and a cellular telephone according to the present invention.





FIG. 7

illustrates the relationship between a PDA protective cover and a PDA according to the present invention.





FIG. 8

illustrates the relationship between an electric steel rolling door remote controller protective cover and an electric steel rolling door remote controller according to the present invention.





FIG. 9

illustrates the relationship between a remote controller protective cover and a remote controller according to the prior art.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to FIGS. From


1


through


3


, a protective cover


3


is made subject to a mold


4


, which is an open frame fitting the height and width of the remote-controller


2


to be protected. The protective cover


3


comprises a peripheral strip


31


, a transparent top panel


32


, and a transparent bottom panel


33


. The peripheral strip


31


, the transparent top panel


32


, and the transparent bottom panel


33


are respectively cut from transparent sheet material, for example, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) sheet material. The two ends of the peripheral strip


31


are sealed together, forming a loop. An insertion slot


311


is formed in one end of the loop-like peripheral strip


31


. The loop-like peripheral strip


31


fits the inner diameter of the mold


4


. After preparation, the loop-like peripheral strip


31


is put in the mold


4


and closely attached to the inside wall of the mold


4


, and then the mold


4


with the loop-like peripheral strip


31


are put on the bottom panel


33


in a high-frequency heat sealing machine, and then the border of the bottom panel


33


is heat-sealed to the border of the bottom side of the loop-like peripheral strip


31


by the high-frequency heat sealing machine, and then the top panel


32


is covered on the mold


4


over the border of the top side of the loop-like peripheral strip


31


and heat-sealed to the border of the top side of the top side of the loop-like peripheral strip


31


by the high-frequency heat sealing machine. During sealing, the protruding portions of the loop-like peripheral strip


31


, the top panel


32


and the bottom panel


33


outside the seal area are simultaneously cut away by the top and bottom cutting edges of the mold


4


. After sealing, the desired protective cover


3


is obtained, which fits the shape of the remote controller


2


. Through the insertion slot


311


, the remote controller


2


is inserted into the inside of the protective cover


3


.




Referring to

FIGS. 4 and 5

, hook and loop materials


34


are provided at one end of the peripheral strip


31


of the protective cover


3


, and adapted to control the entrance of the insertion slot


311


.




Referring to

FIG. 6

, the protective cover


5


fits the shape of a cellular telephone


6


, comprising a loop-like peripheral strip


51


, a transparent top panel


52


peripherally sealed to the periphery of the top side of the loop-like peripheral strip


51


, and a transparent bottom panel


53


peripherally sealed to the periphery of the bottom side of the loop-like peripheral strip


51


, an insertion slot


511


in the loop-like peripheral strip


51


through which the cellular telephone


6


is inserted into the inside of the protective cover


5


, a fastener


55


fixedly provided at the bottom panel


53


for fastening, and holes


54


formed in the loop-like peripheral strip


51


corresponding to the antenna and power switch of the cellular telephone


6


.




Referring to

FIG. 7

, the protective cover


7


fits the shape of a PDA (personal digital assistant)


8


, comprising a loop-like peripheral strip


71


, a transparent top panel


72


peripherally sealed to the periphery of the top side of the loop-like peripheral strip


71


, and a transparent bottom panel


73


peripherally sealed to the periphery of the bottom side of the loop-like peripheral strip


71


, an insertion slot


711


in the loop-like peripheral strip


71


through which the PDA


8


is inserted into the inside of the protective cover


7


, and a hole


74


formed in the loop-like peripheral strip


71


corresponding to the power switch


81


of the PDA


8


.




Referring to

FIG. 8

, the protective cover


9


fits the shape of an electric steel rolling door remote controller


21


, comprising a loop-like peripheral strip


91


, a transparent top panel


92


peripherally sealed to the periphery of the top side of the loop-like peripheral strip


91


, and a transparent bottom panel


93


peripherally sealed to the periphery of the bottom side of the loop-like peripheral strip


91


, and an insertion slot


911


in the loop-like peripheral strip


91


through which the electric steel rolling door remote controller


21


is inserted into the inside of the protective cover


9


.




A prototype of portable electronic device protective cover has been constructed with the features of FIGS.


1


˜


8


. The portable electronic device protective cover functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.




Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A portable electronic device protective cover having a shape corresponding to an electronic device to be protected, comprising:a peripheral strip made of plastic sheet material and having a loop-shaped contour for fitting a periphery of the electronic device to be protected, said peripheral strip having a top side, a bottom side, and a longitudinally extended insertion slot through which the electronic device to be protected is inserted into an interior of the portable electronic device protective cover, said insertion slot having a pair of spaced longitudinally extending peripheral edges and a pair of substantially circular openings respectively formed at opposing longitudinal ends of said insertion slot, each of said openings having a diameter greater than said spacing of said peripheral edges of said insertion slot; a transparent top panel made of transparent plastic sheet material and peripherally sealed to said top side of said peripheral strip by a high-frequency heat sealing apparatus; and a transparent bottom panel made of transparent plastic sheet material and peripherally sealed to said bottom side of said peripheral strip by a high-frequency heat-sealing apparatus.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
3295576 Schmitt et al. Jan 1967 A
4119249 Hanson Oct 1978 A
4141401 Hindemit Feb 1979 A
5092459 Ujianic et al. Mar 1992 A
5499713 Huffer Mar 1996 A
6082535 Mitchell Jul 2000 A