This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 106128630, filed on Aug. 23, 2017.
The disclosure relates to a protective case assembly, more particularly to a protective case assembly for a handheld device having a detachable component.
In today's era of handheld devices, in order to attract the attention of consumers, the design of today's mobile phone has become diversified and personalized. Especially, the design at the back of the mobile phone, apart from an eye-catching logo, usually consumers are allowed to add in the blank space any variety of decorations to suit his/her personal preference, such as 3D stickers, etc.
Referring to
Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a protective case assembly for a handheld device that is capable of overcoming the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.
According to one aspect of this disclosure, a protective case assembly for a handheld device includes a casing body and a frame. The handheld device has a device front surface, a device back surface opposite to the device front surface, and a device peripheral surface connected between the device front surface and the device back surface. The casing body is configured to surround the device peripheral surface. The frame is detachably connected to the casing body and has a frame inner peripheral surface that defines a central hollow portion for exposure of the device back surface.
Another object of this disclosure is to provide a frame that is detachably connected to a casing body of a protective case assembly so as to completely expose the back of a handheld device and that can enhance the overall appearance of the protective case assembly.
According to another aspect of this disclosure, a frame is configured to be detachably connected to a casing body of a protective case assembly which surrounds a device peripheral surface of a handheld device. The frame comprises a frame body having a frame inner peripheral surface defining a central hollow portion, a frame outer peripheral surface opposite to the frame inner peripheral surface, a frame rear peripheral edge surface interconnecting rear edges of the frame inner peripheral surface and the frame outer peripheral surface, a frame front peripheral edge surface interconnecting front edges of the frame inner peripheral surface and the frame outer peripheral surface and opposite to the frame rear peripheral edge surface, two spaced-apart frame short sides, and two spaced-apart frame long sides connected between the frame short sides.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Before the present disclosure is described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying embodiments, it should be noted herein that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.
Referring to
The protective case assembly of this disclosure is used for covering and protecting a handheld device 9 which has a device front surface 91, a device back surface 92 opposite to the device front side 91, and a device peripheral surface 93 connected between the device front surface 91 and the device back surface 92.
The casing body 3 surrounds the device peripheral surface 93, and has two spaced-apart casing body short sides 31 extending in a left-right direction, two spaced-apart casing body long sides 32 connected between the casing body short sides 31 and extending in a top-bottom direction, a casing body outer peripheral surface 33, a casing body inner peripheral surface 34 opposite to the casing body outer peripheral surface 33 and abutting against the device peripheral surface 93, a casing body rear peripheral edge surface 35 interconnecting rear edges of the casing body outer and inner peripheral surfaces 33, 34 and proximate to the device back surface 92, and a casing body front peripheral edge surface 36 interconnecting front edges of the casing body outer and inner peripheral surfaces 33, 34 and opposite to the casing body rear peripheral edge surface 35. The casing body 3 has a receiving space 37 defined by the casing body inner peripheral surface 34 and capable of releasably securing the handheld device 9.
The frame 4 has a frame body 40 that is annular, that is detachably connected to the casing body 3, and that is proximate to the device back surface 92. The frame body 40 has a frame inner peripheral surface 41 defining a central hollow portion 42 for exposure of the device back surface 92, a frame outer peripheral surface 47 opposite to the frame inner peripheral surface 41, two spaced-apart frame short sides 43 corresponding to the casing body short sides 31, two spaced-apart frame long sides 44 connected between the frame short sides 43 and corresponding to the casing body long sides 32, a frame rear peripheral edge surface 45 interconnecting rear edges of the frame inner and outer peripheral surfaces 41, 47, and a frame front peripheral edge surface 46 that interconnects front edges of the frame inner and outer peripheral surfaces 41, 47, that is opposite to the frame rear peripheral edge surface 45 and that abuts against the device peripheral surface 93. The frame outer peripheral surface 47 has a first outer peripheral surface portion 471 connected to the frame rear peripheral edge surface 45, and a second outer peripheral surface portion 472 connected to the frame front peripheral edge surface 46 and the first outer peripheral surface portion 471.
With reference to
The main grooves 53 are respectively disposed on the casing body short sides 31. Each main groove 53 is formed in the casing body inner peripheral surface 34. The casing body rear peripheral edge surface 35 is formed with two casing body protrusions 55 each of which is immediately adjacent to a respective one of the main grooves 53. After the frame 4 is assembled to the casing body 3, the second protrusions 52 are respectively received in the main grooves 53, each casing body protrusion 55 is engaged with the engaging groove 54 defined by each first protrusion 51 and the respective second protrusion 52, and each first protrusion 51 abuts against the casing body rear peripheral edge surface 35.
With reference to
In this embodiment, the frame short sides 43 are respectively connected to the casing body short sides 31 through the coupling unit 5, and the frame long sides 44 are respectively connected to the casing body long sides 32 through the engaging unit 6, but is not limited thereto.
It is worth to mention herein that, when a user intends to enhance the protection of the handheld device 9 or change the appearance thereof, the frame 4 can be removed from the casing body 3 and a back cover 48 is attached to the casing body 3, as shown in
From the foregoing, the advantages of this disclosure can be summarized as follows:
The frame 4 of this disclosure is annular and is detachably coupled to the casing body 3. In comparison with the conventional protective case assembly which must sacrifice the design of the handheld device in order to achieve the protection thereof, apart from achieving protection of the handheld device 9, the protective case assembly of this disclosure can also allow complete exposure of the device back surface 92 of the handheld device 9 through the central hollow portion 42 of the frame body 40. Further, because the coupling unit 5 and the engaging unit 6 are located between the casing body 3 and the frame 4 and are hidden, an overall appearance of the protective case assembly of this disclosure can be enhanced.
The frame short sides 43 are respectively connected to the casing body short sides 31 through the coupling unit 5, and the frame long sides 44 are respectively connected to the casing body long sides 32 through the engaging unit 6. In comparison with the conventional protective case assembly, the protective case assembly of this disclosure employs two different coupling methods between the casing body 3 and the frame 4 to enhance the stability and coupling strength there-between, so that the frame 4 will not easily detach from the casing body 3.
The frame 4 can be arbitrarily replaced by the back cover 48. In comparison with the conventional protective case assembly, the protective case assembly of this disclosure can allow the user to appropriately adjust the scope of protection of the handheld device 9 according to the environment where it will be used.
Referring to
With reference to
Each two of the third protrusions 56 are disposed on a corresponding one of the frame long sides 44, and are spaced apart from each other in the top-bottom direction. Each third protrusion 56 extends outwardly from the second outer peripheral surface portion 472 of the frame outer peripheral surface 47, and cooperates with the first protrusion 51′ to define therebetween an engaging groove 561. Each third protrusion 56 is located between one of the second protrusions 52′ and a corresponding one of the second protrusions 52″, such that each second protrusion 52″ is flanked by two of the third protrusions 56 disposed on the same side thereof.
With reference to
The casing body rear peripheral edge surface 35 is formed with a single casing body protrusion 55′ that is annular and that is immediately adjacent to the main groove 53′. The casing body inner peripheral surface 34 has two dovetail protrusions 38 formed on each of the casing body long sides 32 and spaced apart from each other in the top-bottom direction. The dovetail protrusions 38 are located inwardly of the casing body protrusion 55′.
Each two of the auxiliary grooves 57 are disposed on a corresponding one of the casing body long sides 32, and are formed in the casing body inner peripheral surface 34.
In this embodiment, each second protrusion 52′ is formed with two chamfered edges 59 (only one chamfered edge 59 is visible in
After the frame 4 is coupled to the casing body 3, each of the second protrusions 52′, 52″ is received in the main groove 53′, each third protrusion 56 is engaged with a respective one of the auxiliary grooves 57, each dovetail protrusion 38 is engaged with the dovetail groove 58 defined by each third protrusion 56 with one of the second protrusions 52′ and the corresponding second protrusion 52″, and the first protrusion 51′ abuts against the casing body rear peripheral edge surface 35. Further, the casing body protrusion 55′ is engaged with the engaging groove 54′ defined by the first protrusion 51′ and the corresponding second protrusion 52′, 52″ and with the engaging groove 561 defined by the first protrusion 51′ and the corresponding third protrusion 56.
With reference to
With reference to
Apart from achieving the same advantages as those of the first embodiment, the second embodiment utilizes the addition of the dovetail engaging structure to the original engaging method of the casing body protrusion 55′ with the engaging groove 54′ defined by the first protrusion 51′ and the corresponding second protrusion 52′, 52″ and with the engaging groove 561 defined by the first protrusion 51′ and the corresponding third protrusion 56, so that the coupling strength between the frame 4 and the casing body 3 can be enhanced, and the frame 4 cannot be easily detached from the casing body 3.
Furthermore, the second embodiment utilizes the pressing members 72 disposed removably and respectively in the button holes 71 and utilizes the limiting grooves 821 to permit the respective limiting bumps 811 to slidably engage therein, so that when each pressing member 72 is pressed by the user, each pressing member 72 can slide smoothly and will not easily detach from the respective button hole 71. Moreover, the removable design of the pressing members 72 can permit the user to change the color of each pressing member 72, thereby providing a customized combination.
In summary, the protective case assembly of this disclosure not only can maintain the aesthetic appearance of the handheld device 9 by completely exposing the device back surface 92 thereof, but also can allow the user to use the frame 4 or the back cover 48 according to the environment where it will be used. Hence, the object of this disclosure can indeed be achieved.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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106128630 A | Aug 2017 | TW | national |
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Entry |
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Search Report appended to an Office Action, which was issued to Taiwanese counterpart application No. 106128630 by the TIPO dated Feb. 22, 2018 (2 pages, English translation included). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20190068231 A1 | Feb 2019 | US |