Patent Publication Number: US-2018042350-A1

Title: Casing for a handheld device

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/372,856, titled “Consumer Electronic Accessory with Storage System with Charging Capability” and filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Aug. 10, 2016. The specification of the above referenced patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A. Technical Field 
     The present invention generally relates to accessory of portable electronic devices such as, but not limited to, handheld device. In particular, the present invention relates to a casing of a handheld devices with a provision for storing accessories, such as a cord. 
     B. Description of Related Art 
     Nowadays, people depends on smart phones to plan and schedule things to run a smooth life. But, one of the concern with smartphones is maintaining it in charged state, specifically during travel. Generally, a simple charger includes an adapter to plugin with the power supply and a cable to connect the smart phone and the adapter. There are varieties of charger but people prefer to carry chargers with compact size such as USB cable which occupies small space to carry and can be simply plugged into a wall plug adapter or a laptop or desktop or a charging terminal in transports. As people only search for charger only when the battery life is low, people are not conscious to carry around charger everywhere they are travelling along with the huge list of things such as keys, wallet, and other objects. 
     To address the above stated problems, a few products have been developed such as a phone case with a built in retractable USB cable, a case to store mobile as well as a short cord and a case with built in prongs that sticks to the charging socket. These cases do not facilitate to use the cord they have purchased along with their phone. Thus, it is desirable to provide a solution that allows the user to store any type of readily available cords in the market. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention discloses a casing of a handheld device for storage of one or more accessories thereof. 
     The casing comprises a front panel defining a cavity with a plurality of walls, a removable back panel defining a receptacle surface with a plurality of wall and a cord housing unit which is clamped at the receptacle surface of the back plate. The cord housing unit defining a groove structure formed at the center and extended along the periphery of the cord housing unit to snugly receive an accessory such as cord and also the groove structure facilities to wound the excess length of the cord cable. The plurality of side walls of the cavity includes at least one rear wall, where an aperture is formed therein and includes at least one side walls. Further, one or more walls of the back panel includes a rear wall portion and a side wall portion. The removable plate includes an opening which is dimensioned to clamp at the aperture. A rim of the side wall portion of the front panel includes a plurality of recess hooks that engages with a plurality of recess formed at a circumferential edge of the aperture in the rear wall of the front panel. 
     In an embodiment, the casing allows store both cord and the handheld device. In one embodiment, the casing allows to charge by unravelling the cord and connecting one end to the handheld device and other end into the power socket. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, while indicating specific embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a casing with a mobile device and a cord stored therein, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2A  is a front view of a cord housing unit without cord in an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2B  is a front view of a cord housing unit disposed with cord in an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3A  is a rear view of the casing in an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3B  is a perspective view of a front panel of a casing according to an embodiment of the present invention 
         FIG. 4A  is a perspective view of a casing with back panel in semidetached position according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4B  is a perspective view of a casing with back panel in detached position according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4C  is an exploded perspective view of a front panel and back panel of a casing stored with a device and a cord according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5A  is a perspective view of the casing in another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5B  is a rear view of the casing in another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6A  is a side view of a casing in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6B  is a rear view of a casing in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7A  is a side view of a front panel of a casing of  FIGS. 6A &amp; 6B  in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7B  is a rear view of a front panel of a casing of  FIGS. 6A &amp; 6B  in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8A  is a side view of a casing according in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8B  is a rear view of a casing according in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9A  is a side view of a front panel of a casing of  FIGS. 8A &amp; 8B  in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9B  is a rear view of a front panel of a casing of  FIGS. 8A &amp; 8B  in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10A  is a side view of a casing according in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10B  is a rear view of a casing according in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11A  is a side view of a front panel of a casing of  FIGS. 10A &amp; 10B  in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11B  is a rear view of a front panel of a casing of  FIGS. 10A &amp; 10B  in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of a front panel of a casing comprising a slot in yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     A description of embodiments of the present invention will now be given with reference to the Figures. It is expected that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope. 
     The present invention discloses a casing  100  of a handheld device with provisions for storing accessories. Referring to  FIG. 1 , illustrates the casing  100  with a mobile device and a cord stored therein. The casing  100  comprises a front panel  102  and a back panel  104 . The front panel  102  comprises a plurality of side walls  106  (show in  FIG. 3B ) and a rear wall  108  forming a cavity  122  (shown in  FIG. 3B ). The cavity  122  is sized and/or shaped to receive a handheld device. The front panel  102  further comprises an aperture  116  formed at the rear wall  108  of the cavity  122 . The aperture  116  comprises a plurality of recess  128  formed at an edge of an aperture  116 . The back panel  104  may include one or more walls which defines a receptacle surface  120  and a cord housing unit  132 . One or more walls of the back panel includes a rear wall portion  110  and a side walls portion  112  (shown in  FIGS. 6A &amp; 6B ). Further, a rim of the side walls portion  112  includes a plurality of recess hooks  126  that engages with a plurality of recess  128  formed at a circumferential edge of the aperture  116 . The back panel  104  is dimensioned to detachably clamp at the aperture  116  of the front panel  102 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2A  illustrates a front view of the cord housing unit  132  without cord. The casing  100  include a fastening means to clamp a cord housing unit  132  to the receptacle surface  120 . The fastening means  136  includes a male fastener and a mating female fastener. The female fastener is formed at the receptacle surface  120  and the male fastener formed at the rear side of the cord housing unit  132 . Referring to  FIG. 2B  is a front view of the cord housing unit  132  disposed with cord in an embodiment of the present invention. The cord housing unit  132  defines an elongated circle structure with a groove structure  130  disposed at the center. The groove structure  130  travels from the center to the periphery of the cord housing unit  132 . The groove structure  130  is dimensioned to snugly receive the cord and the excess length of the cord is wound in the groove around the periphery of the cord housing unit  132 . The casing  100  allows to charge by unravelling the cord and connecting one end to the handheld device and other end into the power socket. In an embodiment, the groove structure  130  is configured to receive cord or power cables of various size or length onto the cord housing unit  132 . In an embodiment, the cord housing unit  132  may vary in size. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3A , the one or more walls which defines a receptacle surface  120  of a back panel  104  includes a rear wall portion  112  and a side walls portion  110 . The back panel  104  is detachably attached to the aperture formed in the rear wall  108  of the front panel  102 . Referring to  FIG. 3B , the front panel  102  receives the handheld device in the cavity  122  through an opening  114 . Further, when the back panel  104  is detached from the front panel  106 , the rear side of the device positioned in the cavity  122  is exposed through the aperture  116 . The casing  100  further includes a plurality of hole  118  in the front panel  102  to expose the inlet ports, such as, charger port, USB port, etc., and the controls of the devices, such as, a volume control, camera button, etc. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4C  illustrates an exploded view of case  100  assembly enclosed with the handheld device and the cord. In an embodiment, the cord may be stored in the cord housing unit  132  snapped at the receptacle surface  120  of the back panel  104 . In an embodiment, the receptacle surface  120  is accessed through a rim formed at the side wall portion  110  and therefore, the back panel  104  needs to be removed from the front panel  102  in order to access the receptacle surface  120 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4A &amp; 4B  illustrates the process steps for removal of the back panel  104 , in an embodiment of the present invention. The back panel  104  is further defined with the plurality of recess hooks  126  provided at the circumferential edge of the panel  104  for engagement with the plurality of recesses  128  provided at the circumferential edge of the aperture  116 . In an embodiment, the back panel  104  is configured to be removed by pushing up the bottom portion of the panel  104  which slides in a parallel plane to the front panel  102  facilitating the removal of the back panel  104 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5A &amp; 5B , in one embodiment of the casing  100  may include a release ledge  134  positioned at the bottom portion of back panel  104  to facilitate to push up the panel  104  thereby allows to detach the back panel  104  from the front panel  102 . In one embodiment, the back panel  104  is magnetically attached to the aperture  116  in the rear wall of the front panel  102 . The magnets were attached to the interior of the back panel  104  such it is not visible from the exterior side of the back panel  104 . 
     In an embodiment, the back panel  104  configured to clamp into the aperture  116  of the front panel  102  by a snap fit connection. In an embodiment, the back panel  104  configured to clamp into the aperture  116  of the front panel  102  by a slide fit connection structure. In an embodiment, the connection mechanism for engagement of back panel  104  to the aperture  116  of the front panel  102  is not only restricted to the recess hook structure connection, magnetic connection, snap fit connection, slide fit connection described, but could also employ other ways as well. 
     In one embodiment, the side wall  106  and rear walls  108  of the front panel  102  is includes TPE bumper. In one embodiment, the side wall portion  110  of the back panel  104  includes chamfered edge design. 
     In one embodiment of the casing  100 , the aperture  116  may be wider in size such that the size of the aperture  116  slightly less than the contour of the receiving device in the cavity  122 , shown in  FIG. 6A  through  FIG. 7B . Further, the back panel  104  is sized to detachably fixed at the aperture  116  in such way it exposes the camera portion of a mobile device to capture images. In  FIGS. 6A &amp; 6B , a side view and rear view of the casing  100  is shown respectively, where the front panel is clamped to the back panel. The aperture  116  exposes a certain amount of the rear side of the handheld device on engaging the front panel  102  with the back panel  104 . 
     In an embodiment, a side view of a front panel  102  of a casing  100  of  FIGS. 6A &amp; 6B  is shown in  FIG. 7A . In one embodiment, a rear view of the front panel  102  of a casing  100  of  FIGS. 6A &amp; 6B  is shown in  FIG. 7B . When the back panel  104  is not engaged with the front panel  102 , the aperture  116  exposes the rear side of the handheld device in the cavity  122 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8A  through  FIG. 9B , in one embodiment of the casing  100 , the side wall  106  &amp; side wall portion  110  of the front  102  and back panel  104 , respectively, are flat in structure and the chamfer of the front  102  and back panel  104  are arched. Also, the back panel  104  is dome shaped and its profile flows into the arched chamfer of the front panel  102 , shown in  FIGS. 8A &amp; 8B . In one embodiment, a side view of a front panel of a casing of  FIGS. 8A &amp; 8B  is shown in  FIG. 9A . In one embodiment, a rear view of a front panel of a casing of  FIGS. 8A &amp; 8B  is shown in  FIG. 9B . Further, in this embodiment, the rear wall  108  of the front panel  102  includes an aperture  166  and a camera hole  118  that facilitates to capture image. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10A  through  FIG. 11B , in one embodiment of the casing  100 , the side walls of the front panel is structured to have a rounded profile. Referring to  FIGS. 10A &amp; 10B , a side view and rear view of a casing  100  is shown. In an embodiment, a side view of a front panel of a casing  100  of  FIGS. 10A &amp; 10B  is shown in  FIG. 11A . In an embodiment, a rear view of a front panel of a casing  100  of  FIGS. 10A &amp; 10B  is shown in  FIG. 11B . 
     Referring to  FIG. 12 , the plurality of side wall  106  of the front panel  102  comprises at least one bottom wall section. In an embodiment, the bottom wall section comprises a slot  138  formed thereon for receiving an electrical outlet such as a USB port or a charging port of an adapter to connect with the handheld device in the cavity  122 . 
     Advantageously, the casing  100  allows to store both cord and the handheld device, frees the number of items that need to keep with in day-to-day life and working in case of emergencies and allows to charge the handheld device without having to carry around the charger as a separate item. 
     Although a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the above detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment developed herein, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications, substitutions of parts and elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     The foregoing description comprises illustrative embodiments of the present invention. Having thus described exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted by those skilled in the art that the within disclosures are exemplary only, and that various other alternatives, adaptations, and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention. Merely listing or numbering the steps of a method in a certain order does not constitute any limitation on the order of the steps of that method. Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions. Although specific terms may be employed herein, they are used only in generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments illustrated herein.