Abstract:
The invention provided a protective brace for a portable device. The protective brace includes a hold part, a first shock-absorbing part and a second shock-absorbing part. The shock-absorbing parts are at opposite sides of the hold part separately; and each of the anti-vibrate part is wider and higher than the hold part in width and height respectively; the hold part, the first shock-absorbing part, and the second shock-absorbing part define a holder for the portable device. The cute frame-like protective brace have the merits of shock absorbing, open-operation and lightweight.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a protective brace, particularly to a protective brace for a portable device. 
         [0003]    2. Related Art 
         [0004]    As a tend of portable devices is to become as small and tiny as possible, protecting small, tiny, multi-functional, sophisticated portable devices is a subject itself to electronic designers. Present protective mediums tend to pack the portable devices in a casing, making increasing a volume of the portable device an inconvenient operation. 
         [0005]    The U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,864, entitled “Protective case for touch screen device”, issued on Nov. 11, 2003, discloses such a protective case of a portable device. The case includes a rigid case and an aperture in the case. A flexible membrane mounts in the aperture for touching the screen of the portable device. 
         [0006]    However the present protective case has two disadvantages, firstly, the protective case lacks an shock-absorbing fitting in case the portable device is dropped. Secondly, a user of the portable device cannot operate the portable device directly. In addition, the heavy and bulky protective case impacts the cuteness and lightness of the portable device. 
         [0007]    Accordingly, it would be advantageous if the protective case is of shock-absorbing and direct-operating. Another object is to provide a light and cute protective case for the portable device. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known protective case now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a protective brace make up the shortcomings of present case. 
         [0009]    To attain this, the present invention generally includes a hold part, a first shock-absorbing part and a second shock-absorbing part. The shock-absorbing parts are at opposite sides of the hold part separately; and each of the anti-vibrate part is wider and higher than the hold part in width and height respectively; the hold part, the first shock-absorbing part, and the second shock-absorbing part define a holder for the portable device. 
         [0010]    A primary object of the present invention is to provide a protective brace which can reduce the damage come from a sudden and violate shock to the portable device. 
         [0011]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a protective brace which will not interfere the operation to the portable device. 
         [0012]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a light and cute protective brace to carry without increasing the volume and weight of the portable device. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a solid view of a protective brace in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the protective brace of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view take along line of III-III on  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view take along line of IV-IV on  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a vertical sectional view take along line of V-V on  FIG. 2  with four divided planes; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a solid view of the protective brace of  FIG. 1  when a portable device is set into. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]      FIGS. 1 through 5  illustrate a protective brace in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The protective brace  1  includes a hold part  10 , a first shock-absorbing part  20 , and a second shock-absorbing part  30 . The shock-absorbing parts  20 ,  30  are in a fork-like form. The first shock-absorbing part  20  and the second shock-absorbing part  30  are at opposite sides of the hold part  10 . The foregoing three parts  10 ,  20 , and  30  defines a holder  60  to hold a portable device  2 . 
         [0020]    The hold part  10  includes a left wall  11 , a right wall  12 , and a baseboard  80 . The left wall  11  and the right wall  12  extend from opposite sides of the baseboard  80 . The left wall  11  includes a concave slot  111 , an upper-side  112 , and an under-side  113 . A cross section of the concave slot  111  is in a half arc form (as shown in  FIG. 4 ) in order to clip the portable device  2 . Ends of the concave slot  111  extend outwardly with a pair of opposite concave half-circle borders  23  and  24 . Ends of the upper-side  112  extend outwardly and upwardly, while ends of the under-side  113  extend outwardly and downwardly. The structure of the right wall  12  and the structure of the left wall  11  are similar except that the direction thereof is opposite. Therefore, the right wall  12  also has a concave slot  121 , an upper-side  122 , and an under-side  123 . The ends of the concave slot  121  extend outwardly with a pair of opposite concave half-circle borders  33  and  34 . The upper-side  122  connects an upper side of the concave slot  121  and the under-side  123  connects an under side of the concave slot  121 . 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , a left side of the baseboard  80  connects to the under-side  113  smoothly and a right side of the baseboard  80  connects to the under side  123  smoothly. A soft pad  81 , made of a soft material such as a rubber, is embedded in the baseboard  80 . Furthermore, a surface of the pad  81  is higher than a top surface of the baseboard  80 . 
         [0022]    The first shock-absorbing part  20  includes an upper-frame  21  and an under-frame  22 . The upper-frame  21  and the under-frame  22  have a similar shape. The upper-frame  21  includes three parts: a left-side  211 , a right-side  212 , and a front-side  213  that is vertical to the left-side  211  and the right-side  212 . One end of the left-side  211  is smoothly connected to the upper-side  112  of the left wall  11  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ). One end of the right-side  212  is smoothly connected to the upper-side  122  of the right wall  12 . A distance between the two sides  211  and  212  of the upper-frame  21  is wider than a distance between the left wall  11  and the right wall  12  of the hold part  10 . Ends of the front-side  213  are respectively connected to the left-side  211  and the right-side  212  smoothly. 
         [0023]    Similarly, the under-frame  22  includes three parts as: a left side  221 , a right side  222 , and a front-side  223 . An end of the left side  221  is smoothly connected to the lower end of the under side  113  of the left wall  11  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ). An end of the right side  222  is smoothly connected to the lower end of the under side  123  of the right wall  12 . The protective brace  1  further includes two fasteners for alternatively tying a carry cord. The one fastener  214  is fixed on the front-side  213  of the upper-frame  21  of the first shock-absorbing part  20 , and the other one fastener  314  is fixed on the front-side  313  of the upper-frame  31  of the second shock-absorbing part  30 . 
         [0024]    The hold part  10  and the first shock-absorbing part  20  are smoothly connected together, and form two joints  40  and  50  thereto (as shown in  FIG. 2 ). The joint  40  is formed by a smooth conjunction of an extended end of the left wall  11  with the left-side  211  of the upper-frame  21  and the left side  221  of the under-frame  22 . The joint  50  is formed by a smooth conjunction of an extended end of the right wall  12  with the right side  221  of the upper-frame  21  and the right side  222  of the under-frame  22 . From the top view, the width of the first shock-absorbing part  20 , as well as the second shock-absorbing part  30 , is wider than the hold part  10 . 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , from the profile view, a plane P 1  is defined by a center axis of the left wall  11  and a center axis of the right wall  12 , a part of the protective brace  1  above the plane P 1  generally can be divided into three planes, namely: a plane P 2  which is defined by the upper sides of the left wall  11  and the upper side of the right wall  12 , a plane P 3  which is defined by the upper sides of left-side  211  and the upper sides of right-side  212 , and a plane P 4  which is defined by the front-side  213  of the upper-frame  22  and the front-side of the second shock-absorbing  313 . A distance between P 3  and P 1  is greater than a distance between P 2  and P 1 . A distance between P 4  and P 1  is higher than a distance between P 3  and P 1 . A part of the protective brace  1  below the plane P 2  is similarly divided into three planes and with similar structure. Therefore, the first shock-absorbing part  20  and the second shock-absorbing part  30  are higher than the hold part  10  correspondingly. From the front view of the protective brace  1 , the front-side  213  of the upper-frame  21  connects to the left-side  211  and the right-side  212  in two smoothed angles correspondingly. The front-side  223  of the under-frame  22  connects to the left-side  221  and right-side  222  in two smoothed angles correspondingly. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , a schematic diagram illustrating a process for inserting the portable device  2  into the protective brace  1  is shown. A first step is to put a side of the portable device  2  into the concave slot  111  of the left wall  11  or the concave slot  121  of the right wall  12 . A second step is to set the other side of the portable device  2  into the other concave slot  121  or concave slot  111  as the direction as shown as the arrow in  FIG. 6 . A last step is to tie a cord in the cord fastener  214 . 
         [0027]    On the one hand, the soft pad  81  servers as a cushion to reduce collision occurred when the portable device  2  is inserted into the protective brace  1 . On the other hand, the soft pad  81  also helps the portable device  2  to compact the space of the holder  60 . Because the first shock-absorbing part  20  is higher than the hold part  10 , there is a space between the portable device  2  and the upper-frame  21  and the under-frame  22  of the first shock-absorbing part  20 . And the same situation exists between the portable device  2  and the second shock-absorbing part  30 . When the portable device  2  falls, the damage result from the falling can be reduced because these spaces absorb the collision impact. On the other hand, when the protective brace  1  with the portable device  2  is put on a desktop or some panel, there is a space between the surface of the hold part  10  and the panel in order to avoid the portable device being scratched. 
         [0028]    The thinner hold part  10  is convenient for a user to operate when the portable device  2  is in use. The user can operate the portable device  2  directly without the obstruction of a cover or a membrane on the surface of the portable device  2 . Such a structure is ingenious to wind the earphone line or other line-like fittings when the portable device  2  is unused. In addition, the protective brace  1  with such a frame structure not only saves the produce material, but also reduces the invention&#39;s volume and weight. 
         [0029]    It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.