Patent Application
20110233912
This disclosure relates generally to portfolios.
Some portfolios are configured to carry writing pads on interior surfaces of rear covers on right hand sides of the portfolios when open. Thus, such portfolios tend to be well suited for right-handed individuals. But such portfolios are not well suited for use by left-handed individuals, or by other individuals who otherwise desire to have a writing pad disposed on a left side of an open portfolio.
Some protective cases for electronic devices are configured to at least partially cover peripheral edges of the electronic devices with a thin layer of protective material like leather, plastic, or metal. But the thin layer of protective material may not protect the electronic device if dropped on its peripheral edges. Also, such protective cases may not sufficiently retain electronic devices, wherein the devices may become dislodged from their respective cases if dropped.
A portfolio including a first cover to carry a product, and a second cover coupled to the first cover. The portfolio also may include one or more novel arrangements of features to protect the product if the portfolio is dropped, render the portfolio suitable for use by right-handed and left-handed users alike, facilitate releasable fastening of the product to the portfolio, and/or protect the product in a closed position of the portfolio.
Features and advantages of one or more of the disclosed embodiments of this disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and the claims, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to the drawings,
The first cover 14 may carry the first product P1 in any suitable manner, and the first product P1 may include an electronic device, for example, an iPad brand computing device from Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif., or a Kindle brand reading device available from Amazon of Seattle, Wash., or any other suitable device. The first cover 14 may include a first pair of longitudinally opposed peripheral edges 20, 22, and a first laterally outboard peripheral edge 24 disposed between the first pair of longitudinally opposed peripheral edges 20, 22. The first cover 14 also may include an exterior including a first exterior surface 26 (
Referring to
With reference to
The walls 32-36 and/or the lip 40 may be constructed of one or more layers of material that may be the same as or different from the material(s) of the covers 14, 16. In one embodiment, the walls 32-36 and/or the lip 40 may include any suitable type of padding to protect the product P1. The padding may be exposed or may be disposed between inner and outer layers of other material.
The first, second, and/or third frame walls 32, 34, 36 may be spaced from the peripheral edges 20, 22, 24 of the front cover 14 to define protective margins therebetween. Similarly, the fourth frame wall 38 may be spaced from the spine 12 to define a protective margin therebetween. Accordingly, if the portfolio 10 is ever dropped, the protective margins will provide protection for outboard peripheral edges of the product P1 additional to that of the protection provided by the frame walls 32, 34, 36, 38 and lip 40.
Referring now to
Two or more of the apertures may be diagonally opposed from one another, for example, across the longitudinal axis F of the frame 30. For example, the fifth aperture 56 may be identical to the first aperture 48 and may be disposed diagonally therefrom across the longitudinal axis F. Likewise, the fourth aperture 54 may be identical to the second aperture 50 and may be disposed diagonally therefrom across the longitudinal axis F. Similarly, the sixth aperture 58 may be identical to the third aperture 52 and may be disposed diagonally respectfully therefrom. In the latter example, the third and sixth apertures 52, 58 are basically centered on the axis F and, thus, the diagonal angle therebetween is zero. The diagonally disposed apertures, like the lip reliefs, may enable the product P1 to be held by the frame 30 in longitudinally opposed orientations to facilitate use of the portfolio 10 by right-handed and left-handed users alike.
Referring now to
The aperture 37 of the third frame wall 36 may be provided for access to or projection of a port or the like of the product P1. Likewise, as shown in
Referring to
The second cover 16 may carry the second product P2 in any suitable manner, and the second product P2 may include a memo pad, or any other suitable article or device. The second cover 16 may include a second pair of longitudinally opposed peripheral edges 62, 64, and a second laterally outboard peripheral edge 66 disposed between the second longitudinally opposed peripheral edges 62, 64. Although not separately shown, like the first cover 14, the second cover 16 may include one or more reinforcement members like a plastic or paper board, or the like, one or more pads, and an outer skin or covering material. The outer skin or covering material may extend over both the first and second covers 14, 16 and the spine 12.
The second cover 16 also may include a second exterior surface 68, a second interior surface 70, and one or more second product attachment features. For example, a right-handed product attachment feature 72 may be disposed proximate one of the second longitudinally opposed peripheral edges 62, and/or a left-handed product attachment feature 74 may be disposed proximate the other of the second longitudinally opposed peripheral edges 64. The second product attachment features 70, 72 may be longitudinally opposed slits or slots in the second interior surface 66, for example, to accommodate insertion of a backing board of a memo pad.
The second cover 16 also may include one or more pockets 80 having openings extending in a generally longitudinal direction and open toward the spine 12. For example, the pockets 80 may be include one or more slits or slots 80a to hold or carry business cards, and/or covered pockets 80b. The covered pockets 80b may have covers 82, which may be one or more layers of material(s) attached to the interior surface 70 of the second cover 16. In any case, the pockets 80 retain items therein in a manner that enables use of the portfolio 10 in either a right-handed or left-handed manner wherein the items do not fall out if the portfolio 10 is rotated 180 degrees, inverted upside-down, or the like. If the items fall out of the pockets 80, they will tend to fall toward and be caught by the spine 12.
The second cover 16 further may include one or more laterally peripheral pockets 84 having one or peripheral edges 85, for example, to carry one or more documents or other items therein. Such a pocket 84 may be constructed in any suitable manner. For instance, a layer of material that defines the interior surface 70 may be sewn, adhered, thermoformed, or otherwise attached to an underlying layer of cover material and/or reinforcement member (not shown) proximate the edges 62, 64 and left unattached along the edge 66 to define an opening between the edges 66, 85 into which items may be inserted and carried.
Referring to
Referring to
The portfolio 10 further may include fastening elements 94, 96 to couple the laterally outer portions of the covers 14, 16 to one another. For example, the fastening elements 94, 96 may include straps, snaps, buttons, hook-and-loop fasteners, magnets, zippers, and/or any other suitable types of fasteners.
Referring to
With reference to
In a further embodiment, instead of the frame 30, the first product attachment feature may be a clip, cradle, or any other suitable attachment feature that can carry the product P1 in longitudinally opposed orientations.
In general, the portfolio 10 may be manufactured according to any suitable techniques known to those skilled in the art. For example, the components may be cut from sheets, molded, pressed, stamped, and/or the like. Also, the portfolio 10 may be assembled according to any suitable known techniques, including sewing, adhering, thermoforming, and/or the like. Likewise, any suitable materials can be used in making the components, such as leather, polymeric materials, paper materials, metals, and/or the like.
As used in the sections above and claims below, the terms “for example,” “for instance,” and “such as,” and the verbs “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and their other verb forms, when used in conjunction with a listing of one or more components or other items, are each to be construed as open-ended, meaning that the listing is not to be considered as excluding other, additional components, elements, or items. Similarly, when introducing elements of the invention or the example embodiments thereof, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. Other terms are to be construed using their broadest reasonable meaning unless they are used in a context that requires a different interpretation.
Finally, the foregoing description is not a definition of the invention, but is a description of one or more examples of exemplary embodiments of the invention. The statements contained in the foregoing description relate to the particular examples and are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention as claimed below or on the definition of terminology used in the claims, except where terminology is expressly defined above. And although the present invention has been disclosed using a limited number of examples, many other examples are possible and it is not intended herein to mention all of the possible manifestations of the invention. In fact, other modifications, variations, forms, ramifications, substitutions, and/or equivalents will become apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. The present invention is intended to embrace such forms, ramifications, modifications, variations, substitutions, and/or equivalents as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the following claims. In other words, the present invention encompasses many substitutions or equivalents of limitations recited in the following claims. For example, the materials, sizes, and shapes, described above could be readily modified or substituted with other similar materials, sizes, shapes, and/or the like. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the particular examples of exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, but instead is defined solely by the claims below.
