Patent Publication Number: US-2016219998-A1

Title: Protective case and electronic assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The application relates to a protective case, and relates particularly to a protective case and an electronic assembly including a protective case. 
     2. Related Art 
     Due to designs for miniaturization and diverse functionality, for example, tablet devices such as smart phone, tablet PC and the like are extremely popular amongst consumers. Therefore, related accessories are also developing rapidly. In particular, for example, protective cases and protective covers and the like accessories are the most popular amongst consumers. A protective case typically covers a periphery and a back of a tablet device, and exposes a display, a speaker, a microphones, a camera and the like components of the tablet device to ensure the components operate normally. 
     SUMMARY 
     The application provides a protective case, used to provide a bracelet functionality. 
     The application provides an electronic assembly, used to provide a bracelet functionality. 
     The protective case of the application is suitable for covering a portion of an electronic device. The protective case includes a casing and a band. The casing is adapted for covering the portion of the electronic device and has a first casing joint, a second casing joint and a third casing joint. The band has a first band joint and a second band joint. When the first band joint is temporarily connected to the first casing joint and the second band joint is temporarily connected to the third casing joint, the band is attached to the case. When the first band joint is temporarily connected to the second casing joint and the second band joint is temporarily connected to the third casing joint, a portion of the band is apart from the casing. 
     Based on the above, in the application, the band is apart from the casing may be hanged on objects or hand held by a user according to actual needs, thereby adding additional functionality of the protective case. 
     To make the above features and advantages of the application more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an electronic assembly according to an embodiment of the application. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of a protective case of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an end of a band of the protective case of the electronic assembly of  FIG. 1  lifted off the casing. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of an end of a band of the protective case of the electronic assembly of  FIG. 1  moved to another location of the casing. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a band of the protective case of the electronic assembly of  FIG. 1  acting as a bracelet. 
         FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B  are schematic diagrams of a protective case of  FIG. 1  adopting a latching method before and after latching. 
         FIG. 7  is a partial schematic diagram of the band of the protective case of the electronic assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8A  and  FIG. 8B  are schematic diagrams of a band of  FIG. 7  executing settings for an application program corresponding to a tablet device. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, an electronic assembly  50  includes an electronic device  100  and a protective case  200  covering a portion of the electronic device  100 . The electronic device  100 , for example, is a smart phone, however in other embodiments not shown the electronic device  100  may also be a tablet PC or any electronic device having a display. The protective case  200  includes a casing  210  and a band  220 . The band  220  may be temporarily connected to the casing  210 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . In addition, as shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , after being detached from a spot of the casing  210 , an end of the band  220  may be temporarily connected again to another spot of the casing  210 , such that a portion of the band  220  is apart from the casing  210  allowing the band  220  to become a bracelet connected to the casing  210 . In the present embodiment, the casing  210  has a depression  210   a,  the depression  210   a  depresses the casing  210  along a periphery of the electronic device  100 . When the band  220  is attached on the casing  210 , the exterior of the band  220  fits the exterior of the casing  210 . In addition, a material of the casing  210  may include rubber or plastic, and a material of the band  220  may include silicon rubber. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the casing  210  has a first casing joint  212   a,  a second casing joint  212   b  and a third casing joint  212   c.  The band  220  has a first band joint  222   a  and a second band joint  222   b.  When the first band joint  222   a  is temporarily connected to the first casing joint  212   a,  and the second band joint  222   b  is temporarily connected to the third casing joint  212   c,  the band  220  is attached on the casing  210  as shown in  FIG. 1 . When the first band joint  222   a  is temporarily connected to the second casing joint  212   b,  and the second band joint  222   b  is temporarily connected to the third casing joint  212   c,  a portion of the band  220  is apart from the casing  210  allowing the band  220  to become a bracelet connected to the casing  210 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . As such, the portion of the band  220  apart from the casing may be hanged on objects or hand held by a user according to actual needs, thereby adding additional functionality of the protective case  200 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the first casing joint  212   a,  the second casing joint  212   b  and the third casing joint  212   c  are a plurality of magnetic elements, for example, magnetic sensing elements (tin plate, for example), and the first band joint  222   a  and the second band joint  222   b  are a plurality of magnetic elements, for example, magnetized elements (permanent magnet, for example). As such, the first band joint  222   a  may be temporarily connected to the first casing joint  212   a  or the second casing joint  212   b  through magnetism, and the second band joint  222   b  may be temporarily connected to the third casing joint  212   c  through magnetism. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 5 , when the band  220  detaches from the casing  210  and the first band joint  222   a  is temporarily connected to the second band joint  222   b , the band  220  may become a bracelet that may be worn on the wrist of a user or on other parts of the body. Similarly, the first band joint  222   a  and the second band joint  222   b  are a plurality of magnetic elements, for example, magnetized elements (permanent magnet, for example), such that the first band joint  222   a  may be temporarily connected to the second band joint  222   b  through magnetism. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B , aside from adopting magnetic elements for the joints of  FIG. 2  (namely the first casing joint  212   a,  the second casing joint  212   b,  the second band joint  222   b,  the first band joint  222   a  and the second band joint  222   b ), the joints may also be changed to a plurality of latching elements, a protruding latch part  302  and a latch opening  304  (or dented latch part) respectively to latch together. It should be noted, the band joint  222   a  and the second band joint  222   b  of  FIG. 2  must be the protruding latch part  302  and the latch opening  304  (or dented latch part) respectively to latch together. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , in the present embodiment, the band  220  may further have a plurality of indicators  226 , a plurality of buttons  227 , a processor  228  and a wireless module  229 . The indicators  226 , the buttons  227  and the wireless module  229  are coupled to the processor  228 . The processor  228  receives a signal from the electronic device  100  through the wireless module  229  and drives the indicators  226  in accordance to the signal of the electronic device  100 . In addition, the processor  228  produces another signal in accordance to a signal received from the buttons  227  and transmits the another signal to the electronic device  100  through the wireless module  229 . Data may be transmitted between the electronic device  100  and the band  220  by a wireless method via the setup. When the electronic device  100  is placed in a user&#39;s personal luggage or clothes worn, the user may learn the status of the electronic device  100  through the light produced by the indicators  226  on the band  220  worn on the wrist of the user. And the status of the electronic device  100  may be controlled through pressing the buttons  227  of the band  220 . 
     For example, referring to  FIG. 8A  and  FIG. 8B , a graphical user interface (GUI) of the electronic device  100  may be used to set the uppermost indicator  226  and the uppermost button  227  with functionality that correspond to an incoming call notification and muting of the electronic device  100 . As such, when the electronic device  100  receives an incoming call and emits an incoming call sound, the user may learn the electronic device  100  received an incoming call from the uppermost indicator  226  and may turn off the incoming call sound of the electronic device  100  by pressing the uppermost button  227 . In other examples, the indicators and the buttons may be set for different functionality, for example, such as turning on or off the flash or for new messages, and it should not be construed as a limitation to the application. 
     In summary, in the application, a portion of the band apart from a casing may be hanged on objects or hand held by a user according to actual needs, therefore adding additional functionality of the protective case. In addition, when the band has electronic elements (for example, an indicator, a button, a processor, a wireless module), the user may further learn the status of an electronic device by the band and control the status of the electronic device by the band. 
     Although the application has been described with reference to the above embodiments, the application is not limited to the above embodiments. It is apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that modifications and variations to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the scope of the application will be defined by the attached claims.