Patent Application
20140145055
The present invention relates to a protective cover, and more particularly to a protective cover with a flippable top lid and a buckling tongue capable of fixing and releasing an electronic device for the electronic device to be supported and stood up by the top lid.
To keep abreast with the continuous progress of information technology, current computer products, such as smart phones, tablet PCs and the like, all follow the trend to be compact, lightweight and multi-functional. The computer products bring mankind unprecedented convenience ever since to all walks of life. Some popular computer applications, such as e-mail, web surfing, photography and e-commerce transactions, can be handled by a single light, thin and portable tablet PC or smart phone.
The whole structure of a tablet PC or smart phone is simplified effectively while the screen size is enlarged simply because the traditional keyboard is replaced by a touch screen. However, the outer surface and screen of a tablet or smart phone is prone to wear-out, defacement or stain while the computer products are being carried. Hence, protective covers and storage bags in a wide variety and great number for tablet PCs and smart phones bring into play to tackle this regard.
One kind of conventional protective covers has a top lid for the protection of the touch screens of the computer products, and a bottom plate being multi-folding and positioned under a covering element for the placement of a device body. A tablet PC or a smart phone can be handheld or stood up while being placed on a table with the bottom plate being folded. Nevertheless, such kinds of covers cannot be fixed very well due to the multi-folding bottom plate. Consequently, when users want to open the top lid to handhold the tablet PC or the smart phone, the bottom plate becomes uncontrollably foldable and even swingable, getting the way of users' hands and causing inconvenience in use. For example, if a protective cover is used for a smart phone, the top lid keeps patting a user's cheek and causes discomfort throughout a phone call when the smart phone is attached to a user's ear to make the phone call.
In view of the foregoing problem, the covering element and the bottom plate provide magnets or Velcro straps for attaching to each other. Although the folding and swinging problem of the bottom plate of a conventional protective cover can be solved by the additional fasteners, such kind of design causes the protective cover to be more complicated in structure and more costly in manufacturing, and the protective cover formed this way lacks texture in appearance.
In view of the discomfort to users and issues in terms of higher cost and complicated structure, the present invention is proposed to improve the deficiencies.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a protective cover. To achieve the objective, the protective cover has a bottom plate, a coupling plate with one end thereof swingably connected to the bottom plate, and a top lid swingably connected to an opposite end of the coupling plate. The bottom plate, coupling plate and upper plate are foldable with respect to one another, the bottom plate has a first bottom board and a second bottom board. The first bottom board has at least one buckling tongue disposed thereon. The second bottom board has a covering element disposed thereon. At least one buckling mouth respectively engaging the at least one buckling tongue is disposed on the covering element for the at least one buckling tongue and covering element to be formed together. the at least one buckling tongue and covering element define an receiving space and are adapted to fix and receive an electronic device in the receiving space, When the at least one buckling tongue respectively disengages the buckling mouth and the electronic device is released and separated from the at least one buckling tongue, the first bottom board and second bottom board are foldable with respect to each other and are folded to support and stand up the electronic device
Given the foregoing protective cover, an electronic device can be covered and positioned through the arrangement of the buckling tongue and covering element during the use of the electronic device. Users can simply uncover and then fold the top lid to position it under the bottom plate, or further disengage the buckling tongue on the first bottom plate from the buckling mouth to release the electronic device from the covering element. Accordingly, the electronic device can be easily stood up for an inclined operation.
With reference to
The bottom plate 1 includes a first bottom board 11, a second bottom board 12, a buckling tongue 13, a covering element 14 and a receiving space 15. The first bottom board 11 is swingably connected with the second bottom board 12 with one edge of the first bottom board 11 connected with the second bottom board 12. The buckling tongue 13 serves to fix an electronic device, is disposed on the inner face of the first bottom board 11, and is L-shaped observed from a lateral view. The covering element 14 serves to cover and position the electronic device and is disposed on the second bottom board 12. The covering element 14 has a plurality of openings 141 and a buckling mouth 142. The plurality of openings 141 corresponding to buttons or sockets on the electronic device for users to access the buttons or sockets there through are formed through the covering element 14. The buckling mouth 142 corresponding to the buckling tongue 13 is formed through the covering element 14, and engages the buckling tongue 13 on the first bottom plate 11, when the buckling tongue 13 is held within the buckling mouth 142. The receiving space 15 serving to receives an electronic device therein is defined by the buckling tongue 13 and covering element 14 as shown in
One edge of the coupling plate 2 is swingably connected with the first bottom plate 11.
Furthermore, the top lid 3 is swingably connected to an opposite edge of the coupling plate 2. A non-skid face 4 (as shown in
Given the foregoing structure, the protective cover can be formed compactly without the use of additional Vectro tape or magnet between the first bottom plate 11 and covering element 14 as conventional protective covers usually need. The present invention is not only easy in manufacturing but also thin and eye-appealing in appearance. In addition, the protective cover of the present invention may be customized to have the form with a variety of sizes depending on customers' requirements, thereby allowing the electronic devices 5, such as tablets (as shown in
When a user wants to uncover the top lid 1, all users need is to lift the top lid 1 and bend it away from the bottom plate 3, and the electronic device 5 won't escape from the protective cover during the use of the electronic device 5 because the buckling tongue 13 disposed on the first bottom board 11 is capable of holding the electronic device 5 securely. As such, the top lid 3 can be bent away from the bottom plate 1 while the first bottom board 11 does not loosen, fall out or even swing.
Furthermore, when a user wants to stand up an electronic device 5 in an inclined angle, the user lifts the top lid 3 first for the top lid 3 and bottom plate 1 to be unfolded for use. At the moment, the user disengages the buckling tongue 13 from the buckling mouth 142 and the electronic device 5 can then be released, allowing the electronic device 5 covered by the covering element 14 and positioned on the second bottom board 12, and the first bottom board 11 to be foldable with respect to each other. Viewed from a lateral view, a <-shaped structure is formed between the first bottom board 11 and the second bottom board 12. Meanwhile, the electronic device 5 is rested on the non-skip face 4 or non-skip body 41 inside the top lid 4 through the covering element 14, and the inclined angle of the electronic device 5 can then be adjusted, further achieving the objective of standing the electronic device 5 up in an inclined angle when the electronic device 5 is operated.
With reference to
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
