PROTECTIVE ENCLOSURE FOR TOUCH SCREEN DEVICE

• US 20090009945A1
• Filed: 09/05/2008
• Published: 01/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Otter Products LLC
• Original Assignee: Otter Products LLC
• Inventors: Richardson, Curtis R., Johnson, Jamie Lee, Morine, Alan, Thomas, Brian P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,907,394 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/679.270
• CPC Class Codes: A45C 2011/003 for portable computing devices, e.g. laptop, tablet, netbook, game boy, navigation system, calculator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1613 for portable computers cooling arrangements therefor G06F1/203; constructional details or arrangements for pocket calculators, electronic agendas or books G06F15/0216; constructional details of portable telephone sets: with several bodies H04M1/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1633 Protecting arrangement for the entire housing of the computer
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

A protective enclosure for a personal electronic device having a shell that is capable of enclosing and substantially surrounding the electronic device disposed to make the shell substantially watertight, substantially rigid and substantially crush-resistant. The enclosure has a transparent protective membrane that is attached to the shell so that the protective membrane is positioned over the touch screen of the electronic device when the electronic device is enclosed in the shell.

Claims

1. A protective enclosure for an electronic device having a touch screen comprising:

a shell that is capable of enclosing and substantially surrounding said electronic device, said electronic device being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said electronic device being insertable in and removeable from said protective enclosure by hand, said shell being substantially watertight, substantially rigid and substantially crush-resistant;

a protective membrane attached to said shell so that said protective membrane is disposed over said touch screen of said electronic device when said electronic device is enclosed in said shell, said protective membrane being sufficiently thin to allow tactile inputs on a front side of said protective membrane to be communicated to said touch screen through said protective membrane, said protective membrane being transparent such that said touch screen is visible through said protective membrane so that said touch screen is capable of displaying information through said flexible protective membrane.

2. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said protective membrane is integrally fixed to said shell.

3. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said protective membrane is removeably attached to said shell.

4. A protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said touch screen of said electronic device is a capacitance-sensing interactive control and said protective membrane is made from a material that has a dielectric constant that allows capacitive inputs on a front side of said protective membrane to be transmitted to said capacitance-sensing interactive control of said enclosed electronic device.

5. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said shell is formed from a polycarbonate material having sufficient thickness to make said shell substantially crush-resistant.

6. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said shell is made of a rigid plastic that has a flexural modulus of at least 310 kilo pounds per square inch so that said shell is substantially crush-resistant.

7. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said shell of said protective enclosure further comprises grip-enhancing structures that enable said protective enclosure to be securely held by hand in slippery conditions and provides cushioning in drop situations.

8. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said shell is made of at least one engineered thermoplastic selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polycarbonate, thermoplastic polypropylene, thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and thermoplastic compositions containing one or more thereof.

9. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said shell is reinforced with at least one fiber material selected from the group consisting of glass fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, polyamide fibers and mixtures thereof.

10. The protective enclosure of claim 9 wherein said shell further comprises stiffeners that are embedded in a perimeter that surrounds said protective membrane of said shell so that said stiffeners strengthen said shell and prevent said shell from warping.

11. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said protective membrane comprises a layer of glass.

12. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said protective membrane comprises a layer of polycarbonate.

13. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said protective membrane comprises a layer of PVC.

14. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said protective membrane comprises a layer of silicon.

15. A method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for an electronic device having a touch screen comprising:

providing a protective shell that is capable of enclosing said electronic device, said electronic device being a separate unit from said protective shell, said electronic device being insertable in, and removeable from said protective shell by hand, said protective shell having an aperture aligned with said touch screen when said electronic device is disposed in said protective shell;

attaching a protective membrane to a surface of said shell over said aperture, said protective membrane being attached to said shell to provide a substantially watertight enclosure and disposed in alignment with said touch screen of said electronic device when said electronic device is enclosed in said protective enclosure, said protective membrane being recessed from an outer surface of said shell to prevent damage to said touch screen, said protective membrane being sufficiently thin to allow interaction with said touch screen.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein said process of attaching a protective membrane to a surface of said shell comprises attaching a layer of glass to an inner surface of said shell.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein said process of attaching a protective membrane to a surface of said shell comprises attaching a layer of polycarbonate to an inner surface of said shell.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein said process of attaching a protective membrane to a surface of said shell comprises attaching a layer of PVC to an inner surface of said shell.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein said process of attaching a protective membrane to a surface of said shell comprises attaching a layer of silicon to an inner surface of said shell.

21. The method of claim 15 wherein said process of providing a protective shell comprises providing a protective shell that is formed from a polycarbonate material having sufficient thickness to make said shell substantially crush-resistant.

22. The method of claim 15 wherein said process of providing a protective shell comprises providing a protective shell that is made of a rigid plastic that has a flexural modulus of at least 310 kilo pounds per square inch so that said shell is substantially crush-resistant.

23. The method of claim 15 wherein said process of providing a protective shell comprises providing a protective shell that has grip-enhancing structures that enable said protective enclosure to be securely held by hand in slipper conditions and cushions said electronic device in drop situations.

24. The method of claim 15 wherein said process of providing a protective shell comprises providing a protective shell that is made of at least one engineered thermoplastic selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polycarbonate, thermoplastic polypropylene, thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and thermoplastic compositions containing one or more thereof that has a thickness in the range of approximately 0.003 inches to 0.020 inches.

25. The method of claim 15 wherein said process of providing a protective shell comprises providing a protective shell that is reinforced with at least one fiber material selected from a group consisting of glass fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, polyamide fibers and mixtures thereof.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said process of providing a protective shell comprises providing a protective shell that comprises stiffeners that are embedded in a perimeter that surrounds said protective membrane of said shell so that said stiffeners strengthen said shell and prevent said shell from warping.

16. The method of claim 16 wherein said protective membrane has a dielectric constant that allows capacitive inputs on a front side of said protective membrane to be communicated to a capacitance-sensing interactive touch screen control on said electronic device through said protective membrane.