U.S. patent application number 13/829775 was filed with the patent office on 2014-09-18 for protective case having detachable impact absorbers for a portable electronic device.
The applicant listed for this patent is Chia-Yen LIN. Invention is credited to Chia-Yen LIN.
Application Number | 20140262912 13/829775 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51522683 |
Filed Date | 2014-09-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140262912 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LIN; Chia-Yen |
September 18, 2014 |
PROTECTIVE CASE HAVING DETACHABLE IMPACT ABSORBERS FOR A PORTABLE
ELECTRONIC DEVICE
Abstract
Provided is a protective case that can be installed with
different replaceable impact absorbers according to various impact
situations. The protective case has a housing and multiple impact
absorbers. The housing has multiple corners, multiple receiving
parts protruding from the corners, and a cavity to set up a
portable electronic device. The impact absorbers are detachably
mounted onto the receiving parts through multiple connection parts,
and each impact absorber has a resilience ratio more than 40%.
Various impact absorbers with different protection capabilities
(e.g., impact absorbers with different thickness and resilience
ratios) or different designs can be easily replaced and installed
onto the common housing according to different impact situations or
occasions, thereby the protective case can appropriately protect
the portable electronic device.
Inventors: |
LIN; Chia-Yen; (Dongguan
City, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
LIN; Chia-Yen |
Dongguan City |
|
CN |
|
|
Family ID: |
51522683 |
Appl. No.: |
13/829775 |
Filed: |
March 14, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/521 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04B 1/3888 20130101;
A45C 2011/002 20130101; A45C 11/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/521 |
International
Class: |
B65D 81/02 20060101
B65D081/02 |
Claims
1. A protective case having detachable impact absorbers for a
portable electronic device, comprising: a housing having: multiple
sidewalls connected with each other to form multiple corners; a
cavity defined by the sidewalls; and multiple receiving parts each
respectively formed protruding from the corners; and multiple
impact absorbers each respectively and detachably mounted onto the
receiving parts through multiple connection parts, wherein the
connection parts are each respectively formed in the impact
absorbers and cap respectively around the receiving parts.
2. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein a length of
each receiving part capped within a corresponding connection part
is not less than 1/2 of a total length of each receiving part.
3. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least two
of the impact absorbers protrude relative to each sidewall of the
housing.
4. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing
has a bottom wall jointed to the sidewalls, and the cavity are
defined by the sidewalls and the bottom wall.
5. The protective case as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least two
of the impact absorbers protrude relative to the bottom wall of the
housing.
6. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing
has a hardness equal to a hardness of each of the impact
absorbers.
7. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing
has a hardness higher than a hardness of each of the impact
absorbers.
8. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the impact
absorbers each have a resilience ratio more than 40%.
9. The protective case as claimed in claim 2, wherein the impact
absorbers each have a resilience ratio more than 40%.
10. The protective case as claimed in claim 7, wherein the impact
absorbers each have a resilience ratio more than 40%.
11. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
receiving parts of the housing are formed in spherical shapes.
12. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
receiving parts of the housing are formed in conical shapes and
tapered towards the corners of the housing.
13. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
receiving parts of the housing are formed in columnar shapes.
14. The protective case as claimed in claim 11, wherein the
connection parts have shapes complementary to shapes of the
receiving parts.
15. The protective case as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
connection parts have shapes complementary to shapes of the
receiving parts.
16. The protective case as claimed in claim 13, wherein the
connection parts have shapes complementary to shapes of the
receiving parts.
17. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing
has a cutout formed in one of the sidewalls of the housing.
18. The protective case as claimed in claim 4, wherein the housing
has a cutout formed in the bottom wall of the housing.
19. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein the impact
absorbers are made of a material selected from the group consisting
of: polyurethane, vulcanized polybutadiene, and natural rubber.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a protective case having
detachable impact absorbers for a portable electronic device,
wherein the protective case can be installed with different
replaceable impact absorbers according to varying situations, such
that the portable electronic device can be always appropriately
protected by the protective case in varying impact situations. More
particularly, the present invention relates to a protective case
having detachable impact absorbers for a portable electronic
device, wherein the protective case can be a bouncing case to
convert impact kinetic energy into elastic potential energy when a
portable electronic device is dropped onto the ground or hit by
force.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] With the advance of technology, portable electronic devices
are becoming thinner and lighter, and accordingly internal
components and electronic circuits are more compactly assembled.
However, such sophisticated and highly compact portable electronic
devices can hardly withstand a strong physical impact.
[0005] In order to prevent the aforementioned problem, people often
use protective cases to protect their portable electronic devices.
However, protective cases at present are made either with rigid
metal or with plastic, which only absorb impact and deforms/breaks
during impact, rather than converting the impact kinetic energy
into storage of elastic potential energy. Once the impact energy
exceeds the amount of energy that a protective case can absorb, the
excessive impact energy is transferred to the portable electronic
device, resulting in damage.
[0006] Other conventional protective cases with impact absorbers
are made in an integral configuration, which only provides one
constant efficiency for converting the impact kinetic energy into
storage of elastic potential energy. However, the impact kinetic
energy generated from a portable electronic device dropped to the
outdoor ground is significantly different in intensity from that
dropped to the indoor ground. For appropriate protection in varying
impact situations, a user may have to purchase various protective
cases with different protection capabilities to protect the
portable electronic device, thereby bringing inconvenience and
extravagance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In view of the drawback that the conventional protective
case cannot be installed with various replaceable impact absorbers
to appropriately protect a portable electronic device from damage
in varying impact situations, an objective of the present invention
is to provide a protective case having easily-detachable impact
absorbers for appropriately protecting the portable electronic
device in varying impact situations and occasions.
[0008] To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention
provides a protective case having detachable impact absorbers for a
portable electronic device, comprising:
[0009] a housing having: [0010] multiple sidewalls connected with
each other to form multiple corners; [0011] a cavity defined by the
sidewalls; [0012] multiple receiving parts each respectively formed
protruding from the corners; and
[0013] multiple impact absorbers each respectively and detachably
mounted onto the receiving parts through multiple connection parts,
wherein the connection parts are each respectively formed in the
impact absorbers and cap respectively around the receiving
parts.
[0014] Accordingly, the protective case having impact absorbers for
a portable electronic device in accordance with the present
invention has the following beneficial effects:
[0015] 1. Since the impact absorbers are detachable from the
receiving parts of the housing, various impact absorbers of
different thicknesses, materials, shapes and resilience ratios can
be installed onto the housing. As users move to a different
location or occasion, the impact absorbers are replaced with other
impact absorbers having the optimal thickness, resilience ratio, or
shape, depending on, for example, indoor or outdoor locations, and
thereby the electronic device can be always appropriately protected
by the protective case.
[0016] 2. Detaching or installing the impact absorbers from/onto
the housing is easier than detaching or installing the portable
electronic device from/into the housing, such that it is convenient
to manually replace and install the impact absorbers.
[0017] 3. It is further preferable to install the housing of the
protective case with impact absorbers of accustomed designs to
correspond to various occasions. For example, the housing can be
installed with impact absorbers designed as balls when the user is
at a sports ground, or with impact absorbers having cartoon
characters when at an amusement park.
[0018] 4. In view that various impact absorbers can be installed
onto the same housing, only one single housing is necessary to
create different types of protective cases, as said single housing
can be installed with various impact absorbers. Accordingly, the
protective case having detachable impact absorbers for a portable
electronic device in accordance with the present invention is more
economical than the conventional protective case.
[0019] Each of the connection parts either fully or partially caps
around its corresponding receiving part. Preferably, a length of
each receiving part capped within a corresponding connection part
is not less than 1/2 of a total length of each receiving part.
[0020] Preferably, the receiving parts of the housing are formed in
various shapes, such as spherical shapes, columnar shapes and
conical shapes, and have shapes complementary to the shapes of
connection parts. More specifically, the conical receiving parts
are tapered toward the corners of the housing.
[0021] Preferably, the impact absorbers protrude relative to the
sidewalls of the housing. In another embodiment of the present
invention, the housing further has a bottom wall jointed to the
sidewalls, and the cavity of the housing is defined by the
sidewalls and the bottom wall. With the configuration, the impact
absorbers also protrude relative to the bottom wall. When a
portable electronic device enclosed within the protective case is
dropped to an impact surface, the impact absorbers of the
protective case will be the first contact points to confront the
impact surface. The housing of the protective case as well as the
portable electronic device enclosed therein do not directly hit the
impact surface.
[0022] Preferably, the housing has a hardness equal to or higher
than a hardness of each of the impact absorbers, such that the
housing is not deformed by physical impact and can provide a firm
support to securely enclose the portable electronic device.
[0023] As measured by Bayshore Resilience ASTM D2632 method, the
resilience ratio of the impact absorber is more than 40%. If the
portable electronic device enclosed within the protective case is
dropped to the ground accidentally, the impact absorbers of the
protective case can convert most of the impact kinetic energy into
the impact absorbers' elastic potential energy, and dissipate a
fraction of the impact energy during each bounce, thus protecting
the portable electronic device from strong impact force.
[0024] A desirable impact absorber with a resilience ratio of 60%
correspondingly has a conversion efficiency of 60% from impact
kinetic energy into elastic potential energy. For example, after a
first bounce, 60% of the impact kinetic energy is converted into
the impact absorbers' elastic potential energy, and 40% is
dissipated as other forms of energy. Then the second bounce
converts the remaining 60% of the initial impact kinetic energy
into another 60% elastic potential energy. Therefore, after the
first bounce, the impact kinetic energy remains 60% of its initial
impact kinetic energy, and after the second bounce, the impact
kinetic energy is further reduced and only remains 36% of its
initial kinetic energy, and by repeating the bouncing process, the
impact kinetic energy is reduced to minimum such that the portable
electronic device is protected.
[0025] Preferably, the housing of the protective case further
comprises at least one cutout formed in the sidewall and/or the
bottom wall of the housing corresponding in position to a button of
the electronic device for the convenience of operating the
electronic device.
[0026] Preferably, the impact absorbers are made of a material
selected from the group consisting of: polyurethane, vulcanized
polybutadiene and natural rubber.
[0027] Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a
protective case having detachable impact absorbers in accordance
with the present invention, shown enclosing a portable electronic
device;
[0029] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the first
embodiment of protective case having detachable impact absorbers in
accordance with the present invention and a portable electronic
device;
[0030] FIG. 3 is a front view in partial section of the first
embodiment of the protective case having detachable impact
absorbers in accordance with the present invention;
[0031] FIG. 4 is a side view of the first embodiment of the
protective case having detachable impact absorbers, shown enclosing
a portable electronic device and placed on the ground;
[0032] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a
protective case having detachable impact absorbers in accordance
with the present invention, shown enclosing a portable electronic
device;
[0033] FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view in partial section of a
third embodiment of a protective case having detachable impact
absorbers in accordance with the present invention;
[0034] FIG. 7 is an enlarged front view in partial section of a
fourth embodiment of a protective case having detachable impact
absorbers in accordance with the present invention; and
[0035] FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view in partial section of a
fifth embodiment of a protective case having detachable impact
absorbers in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0036] Hereinafter, one skilled in the arts can easily realize the
advantages and effects of a protective case having detachable
impact absorbers for a portable electronic device in accordance
with the present invention from the following embodiments. The
descriptions proposed herein are just preferable embodiments for
the purpose of illustrations only, not intended to limit the scope
of the invention. Various modifications and variations could be
made in order to practice or apply the present invention without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
[0037] The first embodiment of the present invention is to provide
a protective case having detachable impact absorbers for a portable
electronic device, which can convert impact kinetic energy into
elastic potential energy when a portable electronic device is
dropped onto the ground in varying impact situations.
[0038] With reference to FIG. 1, the protective case 1 comprises a
housing 10 and multiple impact absorbers 20. The housing 10 is used
to enclose a portable electronic device 30. The portable electronic
device 30 can be, but is not limited to, a cell phone, and the
contour of the protective case 1 can be designed to fit with the
portable electronic device 30.
[0039] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 10 has a bottom
wall 11, four sidewalls 12, a cavity 13, multiple receiving parts
14 and multiple cutouts 15. The four sidewalls 12 are joined to the
bottom wall 11 and extend upwards from the bottom wall 11, and are
connected with each other to form four corners. The cavity 13 is
defined by the bottom wall 11 and the four sidewalls 12 for
receiving and holding the portable electronic device 30 inside. The
multiple receiving parts 14 are each respectively formed protruding
from the corners, and are formed in spherical shapes. In addition,
the cutouts 15 are formed in the bottom wall 11 and the sidewalls
12 of the housing 10 and corresponding in position to the buttons
of the portable electronic device 30 for the convenience of
operating the electronic device 30.
[0040] The impact absorbers 20 are detachably mounted onto the
receiving parts 14 through multiple connection parts 21. The
connection parts 21 are formed in the impact absorbers 20, the
positions of the connection parts 21 correspond to those of the
receiving parts 14, and the shapes of the connection parts 21 are
complementary to those of the receiving parts 14. Each connection
part 21 fully caps around the corresponding receiving part 14,
thereby four impact absorbers 20 are each individually installed at
the four corners of the housing 10.
[0041] In the present embodiment, the housing 10 has a hardness
equal to or higher than that of each of the impact absorbers 20,
and the impact absorbers 20, the connection parts 21, and the
receiving parts 14 are formed in spherical shapes.
[0042] With reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, at least two of the impact
absorbers 20 protrude relative to each sidewall 12 of the housing
10, and the outer diameters of the impact absorbers 20 are each
larger than the thickness of the housing 10. Each impact absorber
20 has an outer surface protruding relative to the bottom wall 11
and the four sidewalls 12, and also protruding relative to the
edges of the sidewalls opposite to the bottom wall 11. Accordingly,
when a portable electronic device 30 is dropped onto the ground
accidentally, at least one of the impact absorbers 20 will contact
the impact surface 40 first, and neither the housing 10 nor the
portable electronic device 30 will directly contact or be hit by
the impact surface 40.
[0043] Furthermore, the impact absorbers 20 each has a resilience
ratio more than 40%. With the elasticity, the protective case 1 can
convert the impact kinetic energy into the impact absorbers'
elastic potential energy and bounce, then further convert the next
impact kinetic energy into elastic potential energy by repeating
the bouncing process, thereby gradually reducing the impact kinetic
energy to minimum. As a result, the impact force towards the
portable electronic device 30 can be reduced to a minimum via
multiple conversions during bounces to protect the portable
electronic device 30 from damage.
[0044] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the shapes of the
connection parts 21 are partially deformed by applying a slight
force, thereby the impact absorbers 20 can be easily detached from
or installed onto the housing 10.
[0045] One of the advantages of the present invention is that the
impact absorbers 20 are detachably mounted onto the receiving parts
14 of the housing 10 for easy replacement according to varying
occasions. For example, the impact absorbers in a second embodiment
of the present invention can be replaced by impact absorbers 20A
designed and decorated as balls, as shown in FIG. 5, when the user
is watching sports. When the user is visiting an amusement park,
the impact absorbers can be decorated with cartoon figures. With
said changeability in design or decoration of the impact absorbers,
the protective case having detachable impact absorbers of the
present invention is more economical than the conventional
protective case.
[0046] With reference to FIG. 6, a third embodiment of the present
invention provides a protective case having receiving parts 14B and
connection parts 21B different from those in the first embodiment.
The receiving parts 14B of the housing 10B are formed in a conical
shape and tapered towards the corner of the housing 10B. Each
connection part 21B fully caps around its corresponding receiving
part 14B and has a shape complementary to that of the receiving
part 14B.
[0047] With reference to FIG. 7, a fourth embodiment of the present
invention provides a protective case having receiving parts 14C and
connection parts 21C different from those in the first embodiment.
The receiving parts 14C of the housing 10C are formed in a columnar
shape and screwed onto the impact absorber 20C. Each connection
part 21C fully caps around its corresponding receiving part 14C and
has a shape complementary to that of the receiving part 14C.
[0048] With reference to FIG. 8, a fifth embodiment of the present
invention provides a protective case for a portable electronic
device similar to that of the fourth embodiment. The connection
part 21D partially caps around its corresponding receiving part
14D. A length of the receiving part 14D capped within the
connection part 21D is not less than 1/2 of a total length of the
receiving part 14D.
[0049] In summary, since the impact absorbers are detachably
mounted onto the receiving parts of the housing, various impact
absorbers with different protection capabilities (e.g., impact
absorbers with different thicknesses and resilience ratios) can be
easily replaced and installed onto the common housing for use in
different situations. Accordingly, the protective case having
detachable impact absorbers in accordance with the present
invention not only appropriately protects the portable electronic
device, but also provides the consumers with a more convenient and
economical way to protect their portable electronic devices.
[0050] Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the
present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description,
together with details of the structure and function of the
invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made
in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of
parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent
indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the
appended claims are expressed.
* * * * *