Abstract:
A mobile device case with shade includes an open-topped case that can removeably retain a mobile device, a shade that includes a plurality of panels each having connected to each other by means of integral mating hinges, with at least one of the panels also being connected by means of at least one hinge to the mobile device case, wherein the shade is capable of being set in a deployed position to shade the display screen of the mobile device.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/999,452, filed on May 10, 2016. 
         [0002]    U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/999,452 claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/284,660, filed on Oct. 6, 2015, both of which applications are incorporated herein in their entireties by this reference thereto. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
       [0003]    This disclosure relates generally to the field of mobile device accessories and more specifically to a mobile device case with shade. 
       Background Discussion 
       [0004]    Mobile devices having digital display screens are very common and are used by many people around the world today. When a smart phone is used in a brightly lit environment, such as outdoors on a sunny day, it can be difficult to see the contents of the screen without shading the display, usually with one&#39;s hand. However, it is difficult to shade the display with one hand and simultaneously operate the phone, for example, when typing information into the phone. 
         [0005]    While there exist shade devices for mobile devices, they have several deficiencies. Many conventional designs create a shade effect on the top of the device, but do not address the issue of shading the side portions. These designs are helpful only if the bright light source is coming from directly above. If the bright light source comes from the left or right side of the device, the shade is not effective. Additionally, none of the designs stay in place easily, requiring the user to use one hand to hold the shade in place. Some designs have the shade residing directly on top of the device display which makes it difficult for a user to access and use the touch screen display of the device. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    A mobile device case with shade includes an open-topped case that can removeably retain a mobile device, a shade that includes a plurality of panels each having connected to each other by means of integral mating hinges, with at least one of the panels also being connected by means of at least one hinge to the mobile device case, wherein the shade is capable of being set in a deployed position to shade the display screen of the mobile device. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a mobile device case with shade in stored position; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a mobile device case with the shade in the deployed position 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the shade mechanism in the stored position; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the shade mechanism in the deployed position; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the rear of the mobile device case with protective cover removed; 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the rear of the mobile device case with shade deployed; 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the rear of the mobile device case with shade in storage position; 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a mobile device case with shade showing a roll up shade deployed; 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a mobile device case with shade with roll up shade in storage position; 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a mobile device case with shade having shade members with living hinges in a stored position; 
           [0017]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a mobile device case with shade t in the deployed position; 
           [0018]      FIG. 12  is a rear view of a mobile device case with shade in the stored position; 
           [0019]      FIG. 13  is a front perspective view of a mobile device case with shade in the stored position; 
           [0020]      FIG. 14  is a front perspective view of a mobile device case with shade in the deployed position; 
           [0021]      FIG. 15  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a mobile device case with shade in the stored position; 
           [0022]      FIG. 16  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a mobile device case with shade in the deployed position; 
           [0023]      FIG. 17  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a mobile device case with shade in the deployed position; 
           [0024]      FIG. 18  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a mobile device case with shade in the flattened position; 
           [0025]      FIG. 19  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a mobile device case with shade in the stored position; 
           [0026]      FIG. 20  is a perspective view of a further embodiment wherein additional hinged panels act to shade the device screen when the screen is in a horizontal orientation; 
           [0027]      FIG. 21  is a further view of the embodiment of  FIG. 20 ; 
           [0028]      FIG. 22  shows a still further embodiment showing how a hinged shade can be used when reading a book  818 ; 
           [0029]      FIGS. 23-27  show how the panels fold into the eventual storage mode shown in  FIG. 27 ; 
           [0030]      FIG. 28  is a perspective view showing a still further embodiment which is designed to be used with a tablet in a horizontal orientation; 
           [0031]      FIG. 29  shows the embodiment of  FIG. 28  in the folded and stored position; 
           [0032]      FIG. 30  shows an embodiment designed for a laptop computer; 
           [0033]      FIG. 31  shows the embodiment of  FIG. 30  without the laptop computer in place; 
           [0034]      FIG. 32  shows the embodiment  FIG. 30  in the completely folded and stored position; and 
           [0035]      FIGS. 33-35  show an embodiment wherein a smart phone can be shaded in a horizontal orientation with the use of four panels. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0036]    Detailed descriptions of embodiments of a mobile device case with shade are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present device may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present device in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner. 
         [0037]    Many people protect their mobile devices in cases that closely conform to the sides and back of the phone. It would be helpful to integrate a shade device into a phone case that can be deployed in bright light conditions. It will be appreciated that, throughout the present Description, the term “mobile device” is broadly meant to refer to a portable computing device. Thus, within the present context, the expression “mobile device can encompass presently-known mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptop computers and notebook computers. Additionally, wearable or body-borne devices such as wrist-borne devices also may be considered to be mobile devices within the present context. Additionally, within the present context, a mobile device can constitute a device for playing sound files such as an IPOD (APPLE, Inc., Cupertino, Calif.). Furthermore, a “mobile device” can refer to certain conventional hard-copy materials such as books or magazines. 
         [0038]    Referring now to  FIG. 1  we see a perspective view of a smartphone case  100  with the shade portion  6  in the stored position. A standard smartphone  4  is housed in an open-topped case  2 . The shade portion  6  is rotatably pinned to the case at shaft  8 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 2  shows the present device  100  with the shade  6  in the deployed position. The shade is made up of a flexible and retractable center sheet member  16  and two flexible side wall members  14 ,  18 . The center sheet  16  is connected to U-shaped frame  12  at leading edge  20 . The frame legs pivot about hinge post  8 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 3  is an exploded rear view showing rear cover plate  10  removed from the bottom of the open-topped case  2  and exposing the elastic cords  24 ,  26  that are attached to the trailing edge  22  of the center sheet  16 . This shows the sheet  16  in the stored and non-extended position which is hidden inside cover  2 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of the elastic cords  22 ,  24  in their extended position as sheet  16  is pulled out and used as a shade. Side shade  18  is attached to the frame  12  and to the underside of the phone holding case  2  via rivets or other standard attachment means. 
         [0042]      FIG. 5  shows the side shade  18  installed on frame  12  and phone case  2 . A similar shade is attached on the opposite side, not shown, in the same way. 
         [0043]      FIG. 6  shows the underside of the invention  100  with the cover plate  10  in place. VELCRO (VELCRO COMPANIES, Manchester, N.H.) loop member  28  is fixed to the shade and can engage VELCRO hook member  26  when the shade  6  is in the stored position as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 8  shows an embodiment  200  where sheet  216  can be rolled into a case  202  for storage. The sheet attached to a spring biased shaft that allows the sheet  216  to be automatically pulled into the case  202  for storage. The side sheets  218  operate in a similar fashion to the first embodiment  100 . 
         [0045]      FIG. 9  shows the embodiment  200  with the shade in the stored position. 
         [0046]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a third embodiment  300  where track members  302 ,  304  hold side shades  306 ,  310  in place as shown in  FIG. 11 . The center sheet  308  attaches to side shades  306 ,  310  by living hinges molded into the polypropylene formed center  308  and side sheets  306 ,  310 . The center sheet  308  can fold back to be parallel with the back of the phone case  322  as shown in  FIG. 12 , and side sheets  306 ,  310  are stored under the center sheet  1210  as shown by dotted lines. Resilient L-shaped retaining member  312  holds the shade assembly in place for storage. To use, a person pulls back on the L-shaped retainer and releases the shade for deployment. 
         [0047]      FIG. 13  shows an embodiment  400  where a plurality of U shaped members  402 ,  404 ,  406  is pinned  408  to the side wall of the phone case  422 . 
         [0048]      FIG. 14  shows an embodiment  400  in the deployed position where U-shaped members  402 ,  404 ,  406  are rotated up and form a shade. 
         [0049]      FIG. 15  is a perspective view of an embodiment  500  in the stored position. A plurality of frame members  502 ,  504 ,  506 ,  508  surround the phone  4  and can be lifted to form surrounding walls, as shown in  FIG. 16  to shade the phone  4  from bright light. 
         [0050]      FIG. 17  is a perspective view of a further embodiment  600 . A series of hinged  612  panels  604 ,  606 ,  608 ,  610  can fold to be placed in a position that shades the screen of a phone stored in phone case  602 . The hinges  612  are all identical and are designed to be a very tight fit that causes a fiction based holding effect where the panels remain wherever the user sets them, thereby providing infinite adjustability. Optionally, an additional panel can be hingedly joined to the front edge of panel  606  giving greater shading ability. Also, optionally, a hinged easel type kickstand member can be attached to the back side of phone case  602  panel  618  to allow the case to be propped up during use. In embodiments, the panels may be injection molded from a polymer such as nylon or polycarbonate which has a natural spring quality and will not take a cold set when the hinge parts are forced together for extended periods of time. 
         [0051]      FIG. 18  is a perspective view of an embodiment  600  with the panels  604 ,  606 ,  608 ,  610  laid out in a flat position before being folded into the desired shade making position shown in  FIG. 17 . 
         [0052]      FIG. 19  is a rear perspective view of the embodiment  600  showing the panels  604 ,  606 ,  608 ,  610  in the folded and stored position. This view also shows panel  612  which allows the shade  600  to be clear of the camera aperture  614  and yet still fold at joint  616  to allow the shade  600  to rotate up and over the phone case  602 . This position shows that, at first glance, the case  600  resembles many other protective phone cases, however it magically allows a user to quickly and easily deploy a sun shade when needed. It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of  FIGS. 1-19 , although they have been described in reference to smartphones, are readily adapted to other mobile devices such as tablets, laptops, notebooks and wearables, in most cases, with nothing more than modifications in their dimensions, which render them readily usable with other mobile devices besides smartphones. 
         [0053]      FIG. 20  is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the mobile phone case with shade  700 . In this embodiment, the main hinged panels  704 .  706 ,  710  are the same as previously described, but right side panel  12  includes additional hinged panels  702  that, when folded out completely, as shown in  FIG. 21 , act to shade the device screen when the screen is in a horizontal orientation. In embodiments, the side panel may be the left side panel instead of the right side panel. 
         [0054]      FIG. 22  is a still further embodiment  800  showing how a similar hinged shade can be used when reading a book  818 . The base panels  814 ,  816  support a book  818 . The base panels  814 ,  816  can slide closer together or further apart to accommodate various sizes of books. The shade panels  802 .  804 ,  080 ,  810 ,  812  fold up and out to form an effective shade for the book  818 .  FIGS. 23 through 27  show how the panels fold into the eventual storage mode shown in  FIG. 27 . 
         [0055]      FIG. 28  is a perspective view showing a still further embodiment  900  which is designed to be used with an iPad or other tablet  910  in a horizontal orientation. In this case, the shade panel  906  folds up and out along the horizontal axis and hinged panels  902 .  904 ,  908  fold into position to shade the tablet  910 .  FIG. 29  shows the embodiment  900  in the folded and stored position. 
         [0056]      FIG. 30  is a perspective view showing yet another embodiment  1000 . This embodiment is designed for a laptop computer  1008  or notebook held in a base plate  1010  and screen support plate  1012 . The hinged and folding panels  1002 .  1004 ,  1006  work in a similar way as the panels in the embodiment  100 .  FIG. 31  shows the embodiment  1000  without the laptop computer in place.  FIG. 32  shows the embodiment  1000  in the completely folded and stored position. 
         [0057]      FIGS. 33 through 35  show embodiments of the case with shade  1100  where a device can be shaded in a horizontal orientation with the use of four panels  1102 , 1104 , 1106 , 1108 .  FIG. 33  shows the panels in the storage position.  FIG. 34  shows all panels laid out in a flat open position.  FIG. 35  shows the panels in the use position. 
         [0058]    While certain embodiments have been described in the present disclosure, such description are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure to the particular forms set forth, but on the contrary, they are intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the scope defined by the appended claims.