Carrying Case

• US 20110036747A1
• Filed: 10/28/2010
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brian Wixted, Harrison Yuan, Jim Fisher, John Poremba, Mike Hansen, Philip Sopicki, Tad Petrick
• Original Assignee: Brian Wixted, Harrison Yuan, Jim Fisher, John Poremba, Mike Hansen, Philip Sopicki, Tad Petrick
• Inventors: Hansen, Mike, Yuan, Harrison, Fisher, Jim, Wixted, Brian, Poremba, John, Petrick, Tad, Sopicki, Philip
• Granted Patent: US 8,188,714 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 206/701
• CPC Class Codes: A45C 13/02 Interior fittings; Means, e.g. inserts, for holding and packing articles
• CPC Class Codes: A45C 5/03 Suitcases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1628 Carrying enclosures containing additional elements, e.g. case for a laptop and a printer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/182 with special features, e.g. for use in industrial environments; grounding or shielding against radio frequency interference [RFI] or electromagnetical interference [EMI]

Abstract

A system for maintaining a large number of Handheld Electronic Devices is implemented as a carrying case having circuitry configured to connect to the Handheld Electronic Devices to enable the HEDs to be charged and synchronized. The carrying case has a central area configured to hold the circuitry for charging and synchronizing the HEDs, and a pair of divider structures on either side of the central area to hold the HEDs in a protective manner while stored in the carrying case. A grounded protective coating is applied to the interior of the carrying case to dissipate electromagnetic radiation generated by the circuitry and/or HEDs within the carrying case.

Claims

1. A carrying case carrying case for charging, synchronizing, and storing a large number of Handheld Electronic Devices, comprising:

an outer shell having a top portion and a bottom portion that are hinged together to enable the top and bottom portions to be selectively opened, to enable access to the interior, and closed, to restrict access to the interior;

a divider structure to hold and cushion a plurality of handheld electronic devices within the interior of the carrying case to prevent the handheld electronic devices from contacting each other while stored within the carrying case;

circuitry for charging and synchronizing the handheld electronic devices while stored within the carrying case; and

an electrical surrounding structure to attenuate electromagnetic radiation generated by the handheld electronic devices from escaping the carrying case when the top portion and bottom portion are closed.

2. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein the outer shell is formed from PVC.

3. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein the electrical surrounding structure is formed by painting an electrically conductive paint on an interior surface of the top portion and on an interior surface of the bottom portion.

4. The carrying case of claim 3, wherein the electrically conductive paint on the interior surface of the top portion is electrically connected the electrically conductive paint on the interior surface of the lower portion.

5. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein the divider structure is formed of foam padding.

6. The carrying case of claim 5, further comprising a foam padding layer on an interior area of the top portion of the carrying case.

7. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is located in a central area of the bottom portion of the carrying case.

8. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is a 20 port USB hub.

9. The carrying case of claim 8, wherein the divider structure includes a first divider on a first side of the circuitry and a second divider on the second side of the circuitry, to enable handheld electronic devices to be stored and plugged into the circuitry from both sides of the circuitry.

10. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein the top portion of the outer shell has a first edge, the bottom portion of the outer shell each has a second edge, and wherein an alignment mechanism is integrated into the first edge and second edge to ensure that the top and bottom portion close correctly to protect the handheld electronic devices stored within the carrying case.

11. The carrying case of claim 10, wherein the alignment mechanism comprises a circumferentially extending bump in the second edge and a circumferentially extending recess in the first edge, the circumferentially extending recess being sized to receive the circumferentially extending bump when the carrying case is closed.

12. The carrying case of claim 10, wherein the alignment mechanism comprises a circumferentially extending bump in the first edge and a circumferentially extending recess in the second edge, the circumferentially extending recess being sized to receive the circumferentially extending bump when the carrying case is closed.

13. The carrying case of claim 10, wherein the alignment mechanism forms a watertight seal.