Abstract:
Remote control units with lanyard attachment mechanisms are disclosed. A handheld remote control assembly can include an anchor member, a lanyard coupled to the anchor member, and a device to be carried by the lanyard. The device includes a body and a receptacle formed in the body, the receptacle configured to receive the anchor member therein. A housing can removably cover the receptacle to secure the anchor member in place, and a notch in the housing receives a portion of the lanyard therethrough.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This patent application is directed to wireless electronic mechanisms, including handheld electronic devices with lanyard attachment mechanisms. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Lanyards can be attached to an item, such as a remote control or other handheld electronic devices. Lanyards provide a convenient handle or restraint, allowing the user to carry the item by the lanyard or to place the lanyard around the user&#39;s wrist while holding the item to safeguard against unintentionally dropping or losing it. Typically, lanyards are affixed to a clip or other structure that protrudes out of the side of the remote control unit. Alternatively, lanyards are integrally formed with the remote control unit, which reduces the ability to replace or modify the lanyard as desired. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments of the handheld electronic device with a lanyard attachment mechanism introduced herein may be better understood by referring to the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements: 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a handheld electronic device with a lanyard in accordance with aspects of the present technology. 
         FIG. 2  is a front plan view of the handheld electronic device and lanyard of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a rear plan view of the handheld electronic device and lanyard of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the handheld electronic device and lanyard of  FIGS. 1-3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a lower rear perspective view of the handheld electronic device and lanyard of  FIGS. 1-4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a partially exploded lower rear perspective view of the handheld electronic device and lanyard of  FIGS. 1-5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a side cross-section of the handheld electronic device and lanyard of  FIGS. 1-6  with the rear housing not shown for purposes of clarity. 
     
    
    
     The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed embodiments. Further, the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded or reduced to help improve the understanding of the embodiments. Moreover, while the disclosed technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the embodiments described. On the contrary, the embodiments are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the embodiments. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Overview 
     A handheld electronic device with a lanyard and a lanyard attachment mechanism is disclosed. The lanyard is molded into an anchor member. The anchor member fits within a receptacle formed in the handheld electronic device to which the lanyard is attached. In some embodiments, the anchor member is cylindrical in shape and fits into a cylindrical receptacle in the body of the handheld electronic device. A cover is attached to the handheld electronic device&#39;s body to capture the anchor member within the handheld electronic device. The cover can include a notch to provide clearance for the portion of the lanyard extending from the anchor member in the receptacle. 
     General Description 
     Various examples of the devices introduced above will now be described in further detail. The following description provides specific details for a thorough understanding and enabling description of these examples. One skilled in the relevant art will understand, however, that the techniques discussed herein may be practiced without many of these details. Likewise, one skilled in the relevant art will also understand that the technology can include many other features not described in detail herein. Additionally, some well-known structures or functions may not be shown or described in detail below so as to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the relevant description. 
     The terminology used below is to be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of some specific examples of the embodiments. Indeed, some terms may even be emphasized below; however, any terminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will be overtly and specifically defined as such in this section. 
       FIGS. 1-4  are isometric, front, rear, and exploded views, respectively, of a handheld electronic device  101  coupled to a lanyard  103 . The handheld electronic device  101  is illustrated and described throughout as a remote control device, however in other embodiments the handheld electronic device  101  can take other forms or perform other functions. For example, in some embodiments the handheld electronic device  101  can be any small, portable electronic device, such as a media player, smartphone, camera, an RFID transponder, or other electronic device. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-4  together, the device  101  has a substantially oblong shape, with the lanyard  103  extending from a lower portion  105  of the device  101 . The lanyard  103  can be a cord, string, wire, band, or other such elongated material that extends away from the device  101  and provides a convenient structure for gripping, securing, or otherwise retaining the device  101 . 
     The device  101  includes a front housing  107  that mates with a corresponding rear housing  109 . The front housing  107  includes a plurality of openings  111   a - e  that receive, respectively, a plurality of user input controls  113   a - e  therethrough. For example, the first user input control  113   a  can include a touch-sensitive surface that allows a user to provide input via touching or moving the user&#39;s finger across a touch-sensitive surface of the control  113   a , and/or by depressing a button portion of the control  113   a . Second and third user input controls  113   b  and  113   c  are volume-down and volume-up buttons, respectively, while the fourth user input control  113   d  provides a return or “back” function. The fifth user input control  113   e  is a power button. In other embodiments the user input controls can take a variety of configurations, including other touch-sensitive surfaces, depressible-buttons, or any other input mechanism. 
     Sandwiched between the front housing  107  and the rear housing  109  are an internal control assembly  115  and a support body portion  117 . The internal control assembly  115  includes the plurality of input controls  113   a - e  on a front side  119  that faces toward the front housing  107 . The control assembly  115  can include a printed circuit board  123 , carrying associated electronics configured to process user input provided via the controls  113   a - e  and perform various other electronic functions of the device  101 . 
     The support body portion  117  has a front side  125  that mates with the internal control assembly  115 . The support body portion  117  also includes an access aperture  127  that provides access to a portion of the backside  121  of the control assembly  115  having connection terminals  131   a ,  131   b  ( FIG. 7 ) that releasably receive a battery  129 . Accordingly, the battery  129  can be installed through the access aperture  127  when the rear housing  109  is removed from the support body portion  117 . The support body portion  117  further includes a lanyard receptacle  133  formed in a back side  135  of the support body portion  117  adjacent to the access aperture  127 . 
     As seen in  FIG. 4 , the lanyard  103  is fixed at a first end  137  to an anchor member  139 . In some embodiments, the first end  137  of the lanyard  103  is integrally molded into the anchor member  139 . In other embodiments, the first end  137  of the lanyard  103  can be fixed to the anchor member  139  in other ways, such as an additional fastener, an adhesive, or other such approach. The anchor member  139  is configured to be removably received within the receptacle  133  of the support body portion  117 . The receptacle  133  of the illustrated embodiment has a substantially cylindrical shape with an inner diameter, and the anchor member  139  has a corresponding substantially cylindrical shape with an outer diameter just slightly less than the receptacle&#39;s inner diameter to permit the anchor member  139  to be slidably and snuggly inserted into and removed from the receptacle  133 . The anchor member  139  includes a first surface, a second surface, and a sidewall extending between the first surface and the second surface. The first surface is sloped with respect to the second surface. When inserted within the receptacle  133 , the first surface faces the bottom of the receptacle and the second surface faces away from the receptacle  133 . The slope of the second surface corresponds to the portion of the support body portion  117  surrounding the receptacle  133 , such that when inserted within the receptacle  133 , the second surface of the anchor member is substantially coplanar with the portion of the support body portion  117  surrounding the receptacle  133 . Although the illustrated embodiment shows a substantially cylindrical receptacle  133  and anchor member  139 , other embodiments can have a mating receptacle  133  and anchor member  139  with other shapes, such as cuboid, frustoconical, polyhedron, or other selected shapes. A notch  141  is formed in a lower portion  143  of the rear housing  109 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6  together, the anchor member  139  is removably inserted into the receptacle  133  with a snug friction fit therebetween so the anchor member  139  is in an installed position and substantially does not move radially relative to the support body portion  117 . When the anchor member  139  is in the installed position, the lanyard  103  extends away from the anchor member  139  and away from a lower portion of the support body portion. The rear housing  109  is removably fastened to the front housing  107 , such that the rear housing  109  covers the rear side of the support body portion  117  and covers the anchor member  139  in the installed position. Accordingly, the rear housing  109  blocks the anchor member  139  from moving axially out of the receptacle  133  away from the installed position. In at least one embodiment, the anchor member  139  is retained in the receptacle by a friction fit and/or the rear housing. In other embodiments, an additional fastener can be used to help retain the anchor member  139  in the receptacle when the rear housing  109  is removed from the support body portion to expose the anchor member  139 . For example, the anchor member  139  can be fastened in the installed position by a screw, clip, hook-and-loop, or other fastener or fastening mechanism. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the anchor member  139 , the support body portion  117  at the receptacle  133 , and the rear housing  109  are configured to accommodate the lanyard  103  extending from the anchor member  139 . For example, the lanyard  103  is molded or otherwise fixedly attached to the anchor member  139  and projects radially away from the cylindrical sidewall of the anchor member  139 . In another embodiment, the lanyard can be positioned to extend away from the circular end wall of the anchor member  139 , or from another selected portion of the anchor member  139 . The substantially cylindrical receptacle  133  has an open slot  145  on one side that permits the lanyard  103  to extend therethrough when the anchor member  139  is in the installed position. When the device  101  is assembled, the slot  145  in the receptacle  133  is substantially aligned with a notch  141  formed in the end of the rear housing  109 . As a result, when the anchor member  139  is in the installed position in the receptacle  133  and the rear housing  109  is fitted over the support body portion  117 , a portion of the lanyard  103  extends from the anchor member  139 , through the slot  145  in the receptacle, and through the notch  141  in the rear housing  109 . The notch  141  is large enough to receive the lanyard  103  therethrough but small enough that the anchor member  139  cannot pass through. The lanyard and anchor member  139  can be removed as a unit, for example if the lanyard needs to be replaced, by removing the rear housing  109  to expose the rear side of the support body portion  117 , and lifting the anchor member out of the receptacle  133  and away from the installed position to a removed position. A new lanyard  103  and anchor member  139  can be quickly and easily installed into the receptacle  133  and the rear housing  109  re-attached to the front housing  107  ( FIG. 4 ) such that the lanyard  103  extends through the slot  145  and the notch  141 . 
       FIG. 7  is a side cross-section of the device  101  and lanyard  103  of  FIGS. 1-6 , with the rear housing  109  removed. As illustrated, the anchor member  139  is received within the receptacle  133 , which is formed in the support body portion  117  of the device  101 . The lanyard  103  is fixed to the anchor member  139  at a first end  137  and extends away from the anchor member  139  through the slot  145  in the receptacle  133 . The battery  129  is received within the access aperture  127  in the support body portion  117 , and abuts the connection terminals  131   a  and  131   b  disposed on the back side  121  of the internal control assembly  115 . Since the anchor member  139  and the associated lanyard  103  can be removed from the receptacle  133 , different lanyards coupled to different anchor members can be quickly and easily substituted for a given device. 
     Remarks 
     The above description and drawings are illustrative and are not to be construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in some instances, well-known details are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description. Further, various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of the embodiments. 
     Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not for other embodiments. 
     The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinary meanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in the specific context where each term is used. It will be appreciated that the same thing can be said in more than one way. Consequently, alternative language and synonyms may be used for any one or more of the terms discussed herein, and any special significance is not to be placed upon whether or not a term is elaborated or discussed herein. Synonyms for some terms are provided. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification, including examples of any term discussed herein, is illustrative only and is not intended to further limit the scope and meaning of the disclosure or of any exemplified term. Likewise, the disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given in this specification. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. In the case of conflict, the present document, including definitions, will control.