Patent Description:
Referring to <FIG>, a protective case <NUM>, as disclosed in <CIT>, includes a housing <NUM>, and at least one button <NUM> disposed on the housing <NUM>. Through the button <NUM>, a corresponding button (not shown) on a mobile phone (not shown) can be pressed. However, since the button <NUM> is a one-piece design and is usually made of hard plastic, it may be easily and accidentally touched to press a corresponding button on the mobile phone by an external force, for example, when stuffing the mobile phone inside a pocket or when holding the mobile phone by hand. Further, because the button <NUM> is made of a hard material, it may scratch the button on the mobile phone, thereby losing its protective function. Moreover, if the button <NUM> is made of a soft plastic material, although it can reduce the chance of being accidentally touched by an external force due to its flexible deformation, the soft button <NUM> is easily distorted due to shift in the direction of pressure, so that the pressing of the corresponding button on the mobile phone is poor. Additionally, the soft button <NUM> is easily adhered with dirt, especially when there is hand sweat. <CIT> discloses a housing that is configured such that a device may be fitted within the housing and thereby be protected, such as from shocks and/or liquid. The housing may include top and bottom members that may be removably coupled together so as to form the housing. The top member includes a button feature which is configured for interacting and thereby manipulating a button of an underlying device. The button feature is overlaid with a home button gasket, which gasket provides a waterproof sealing for the home button.

Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a composite button that is capable of alleviating at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.

According to one aspect of this disclosure, a composite button is configured to be inserted into a button hole of a protective case, and is suitable for contacting a trigger button of an electronic device as defined in claim <NUM>.

Another object of this disclosure is to provide a protective case having the aforesaid composite button.

According to another aspect of this disclosure, a protective case is suitable for protecting an electronic device having a trigger button, and includes a casing peripheral wall and a composite button as defined in independent claim <NUM>.

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

Before the present disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted herein that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, a protective case <NUM> according to the first embodiment not according to the present invention is suitable for protecting an electronic device <NUM> which has a trigger button <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> is exemplified in this embodiment as a handheld device, such as a mobile phone. The protective case <NUM> includes a casing peripheral wall <NUM> and a composite button <NUM>. The casing peripheral wall <NUM> has an inner peripheral surface <NUM> suitable for facing the electronic device <NUM>, an outer peripheral surface <NUM> opposite to the inner peripheral surface <NUM>, and a button hole <NUM> extending through the inner and outer peripheral surfaces <NUM>, <NUM>. The button hole <NUM> is defined by a hole-defining wall <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, in combination with <FIG>, the composite button <NUM> is elongated, and includes a soft material layer <NUM> and a hard material layer <NUM>. The soft material layer <NUM> is made of a material that is elastoplastic, such as plastic, rubber, silicone or a combination thereof. In this embodiment, the soft material layer <NUM> is inserted into the button hole <NUM> of the protective case <NUM>, and includes a contact portion <NUM> suitable for contacting the trigger button <NUM>, and a mounting portion <NUM> opposite to the contact portion <NUM>. The contact portion <NUM> has a contact surface <NUM> suitable for facing the electronic device <NUM>, and a peripheral flange <NUM> extending outwardly therefrom and configured to abut against the inner peripheral surface <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM>. The contact surface <NUM> has a protruding rib <NUM> protruding therefrom for contacting the trigger button <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the mounting portion <NUM> extends opposite to the contact surface <NUM> of the contact portion <NUM>, and has a soft material connecting surface <NUM> opposite to the contact surface <NUM>, a first connecting area <NUM> formed on the soft material connecting surface <NUM>, and two connecting slots <NUM> formed in two opposite sides of an outer peripheral surface thereof and located between the soft material connecting surface <NUM> and the contact portion <NUM>. In this embodiment, the first connecting area <NUM> is a recess, and the connecting slots <NUM> abut against the hole-defining wall <NUM>.

It should be noted herein that the first connecting area <NUM> is not limited to a recess. In other variations of this embodiment, it may be a blind hole, or a through hole that extends from the soft material connecting surface <NUM> to the contact surface <NUM> of the contact portion <NUM>. Further, the outer peripheral surface of the mounting portion <NUM> is not limited to being formed with the connecting slots <NUM>. In other variations of this embodiment, it may be dispensed with the connecting slots, as shown in <FIG>, and may be directly inserted into the button hole <NUM>.

The hard material layer <NUM> may be made of metal or plastic, and has a hard material connecting surface <NUM> connected to the soft material connecting surface <NUM>, and a touch surface <NUM> opposite to the hard material connecting surface <NUM>. The hard material connecting surface <NUM> has a second connecting area <NUM> embedded in the first connecting area <NUM>. In this embodiment, the second connecting area <NUM> is a protrusion that matches the recess or a blind hole or a through hole of the first connecting area <NUM> and that may extend to an appropriate length, so that a connecting strength with the first connecting area <NUM> may be enhanced. In this embodiment, the touch surface <NUM> is a curved surface that protrude out of the outer peripheral surface <NUM> and that is configured to be pressed by a user.

It should be noted that the second connecting area <NUM> is not limited to a protrusion. In other variations of this embodiment, the second connecting area <NUM> may be a recess, in which case the first connecting area <NUM> is a protrusion. Further, the color of the hard material layer <NUM> is not limited to being the same as that of the soft material layer <NUM>. In other variations of this embodiment, the color of the hard material layer <NUM> may be different from that of the soft material layer <NUM>. Moreover, when the hard material layer <NUM> and the soft material layer <NUM> are both made of plastic, the hard material layer <NUM> is first injection molded, and when the hard material layer <NUM> is slightly cooled and solidified, the soft material layer <NUM> is then injection molded onto the hard material layer <NUM>. After the soft material layer <NUM> and the hard material layer <NUM> are cooled, they are connected as one piece.

To assemble the composite button <NUM> to the protective case <NUM>, the soft material layer <NUM> is simply inserted into the button hole <NUM> of the protective case <NUM> from the inner peripheral surface <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM> toward the outer peripheral surface <NUM> thereof such that the mounting portion <NUM> is received in the button hole <NUM> and the touch surface <NUM> of the hard material layer <NUM> extends out of the outer peripheral surface <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM>. At this time, the peripheral flange <NUM> abuts against the inner peripheral surface <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM>, and the protruding rib <NUM> contacts the trigger button <NUM>. Through this, the composite button <NUM> of this disclosure can be used to press against the trigger button <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>.

It is worth to mention herein that the soft and deformable protruding rib <NUM> may be used to eliminate a gap between the trigger button <NUM> and the contact portion <NUM>, thereby ensuring that the contact portion <NUM> can indeed act on the trigger button <NUM>.

In use, it is only necessary to press the touch surface <NUM> of the hard material layer <NUM> so that the hard material layer <NUM> can act on and force the soft material layer <NUM> to deform until the protruding rib <NUM> contacts the trigger button <NUM>, thereby achieving the purpose of triggering.

Importantly, when an external force accidentally touches the composite button <NUM>, the soft material layer <NUM> can absorb the external force because of its elastoplasticity. At this time, since the amount of deformation of the soft material layer <NUM> is not enough to press the trigger button <NUM>, accidental touching of the trigger button <NUM> can be avoided.

It should be noted that the thickness of the mounting portion <NUM> is not limited to being greater than that of the hard material layer <NUM>. In other variations of this embodiment, the thickness ratio of the mounting portion <NUM> and the hard material layer <NUM> may be <NUM>:<NUM>, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, or other thickness ratios. Through this, the soft material layer <NUM>, or the hard material layer <NUM>, or the soft and hard material layers <NUM>, <NUM> may be inserted into the button hole <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>.

Further, two opposite sides of an outer peripheral surface of the hard material layer <NUM> are not limited to being flat, as shown in <FIG>. In other variations of this embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, the hard material layer <NUM> may further include two connecting slots <NUM> formed in the two opposite sides of the outer peripheral surface thereof and respectively adjacent to the connecting slots <NUM>, so that the connecting slots <NUM> and the connecting slots <NUM> can abut against the hole-defining wall <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the second embodiment of the composite button <NUM>' of the protective case <NUM> not according to the present invention is substantially identical to the first embodiment. Particularly, the composite button <NUM>' includes the soft material layer <NUM>' and the hard material layer <NUM>'. The difference between the first and second embodiments resides in that the soft material layer <NUM>' only includes the contact portion <NUM>. In this case, the contact portion <NUM> has the contact surface <NUM>, the peripheral flange <NUM>, and the soft material connecting surface <NUM>. Further, the hard material layer <NUM>' extends from the soft material connecting surface <NUM> in a direction away from the contact surface <NUM>.

During assembly, the hard material layer <NUM>' is inserted into the button hole <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM> until the peripheral flange <NUM> abuts against the inner peripheral surface <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM>, and the protruding rib <NUM> of the soft material layer <NUM>' contacts the trigger button <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the two opposite sides of the outer peripheral surface of the hard material layer <NUM>' are flat. In other variations of this embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, the hard material layer <NUM>' may further include two connecting slots <NUM> formed in the two opposite sides of the outer peripheral surface thereof for abutting against the hole-defining wall <NUM> (see <FIG>).

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the third embodiment, according to the present invention, of the composite button <NUM>" of the protective case <NUM> of this disclosure is substantially identical to the second embodiment, and differs in that the hard material layer <NUM>" further has a peripheral flange <NUM> extending outwardly and integrally from an outer peripheral edge of the hard material connecting surface <NUM>. The peripheral flange <NUM> and the peripheral flange <NUM> are configured to abut against the inner peripheral surface <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM>.

During assembly, similarly, the hard material layer <NUM>" is inserted into the button hole <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM> until the peripheral flange <NUM> and the peripheral flange <NUM> abut against the inner peripheral surface <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM>, and the protruding rib <NUM> of the soft material layer <NUM>' contacts the trigger button <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>.

The two opposite sides of the outer peripheral surface of the hard material layer <NUM>" are not limited to being flat, as shown in <FIG>. In other variations of this embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, the hard material layer <NUM>" may further include two connecting slots <NUM> formed in the two opposite sides of the outer peripheral surface thereof for abutting against the hole-defining wall <NUM> (see <FIG>).

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the fourth embodiment , according to the present invention, of the composite button (100a) of the protective case <NUM> of this disclosure is substantially identical to the third embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the soft material layer (4a) is disposed on the connecting surface <NUM> of the hard material layer <NUM>", and has an area smaller than that of the connecting surface <NUM>. Further, the soft material layer (4a) only includes the contact portion <NUM>, and the contact portion <NUM> has the contact surface <NUM>, and the soft material connecting surface <NUM>.

During assembly, the hard material layer <NUM>" is inserted into the button hole <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM> until the peripheral flange <NUM> abuts against the inner peripheral surface <NUM> of the casing peripheral wall <NUM>, and the contact surface <NUM> of the contact portion <NUM> of the soft material layer (4a) contacts the trigger button <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>.

From the aforesaid description, the advantages of this disclosure can be summarized as follows:.

Claim 1:
A composite button ( <NUM>", 100a) configured to be inserted into a button hole (<NUM>) of a protective case (<NUM>) and suitable for contacting a trigger button (<NUM>) of an electronic device (<NUM>), the protective case (<NUM>) including a casing peripheral wall (<NUM>) that has an inner peripheral surface (<NUM>) suitable for facing the electronic device (<NUM>), and an outer peripheral surface (<NUM>) opposite to the inner peripheral surface (<NUM>), the button hole (<NUM>) extending through the inner and outer peripheral surfaces (<NUM>, <NUM>), said composite button ( <NUM>", 100a) comprising:
a soft material layer ( <NUM>', 4a) made of a material that is elastoplastic and having a contact surface (<NUM>) suitable for contacting the trigger button (<NUM>) of the electronic device (<NUM>), and a soft material connecting surface (<NUM>) opposite to said contact surface (<NUM>), wherein said soft material layer ( <NUM>', 4a) includes a contact portion (<NUM>) having said contact surface (<NUM>); and
a hard material layer ( <NUM>") connected to said soft material connecting surface (<NUM>), wherein said hard material layer ( <NUM>") has a hard material connecting surface (<NUM>) connected to said soft material connecting surface (<NUM>);
wherein said hard material layer ( <NUM>") has a peripheral flange (<NUM>) suitable for abutting against the inner peripheral surface (<NUM>) of the casing peripheral wall (<NUM>); characterized in that said peripheral flange (<NUM>) extends outwardly and integrally from an outer peripheral edge of said hard material connecting surface (<NUM>).