Docking charger for charging a hand held electronic device with or without a protective cover case fitted thereon

• US 8,183,825 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2009
• Issued: 05/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shuang SA
• Original Assignee: Shuang SA
• Inventors: Sa, Shuang
• Primary Examiner(s): Berhanu, Samuel
• Application Number:
  US12/430,518
• Publication Number:
  US 20100102777A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,121 Days
• Field of Search: 320/107, 320/112, 320/114, 320/115
• US Class Current: 320/107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1633 Protecting arrangement for the entire housing of the computer
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0042 characterised by the mechanical construction
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0044 specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries H02J7/0045 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/04 Supports for telephone transmitters or receivers

Abstract

The embodiments relate generally to a docking charger for charging a hand held electronic device. The docking charger has a docking base formed with a reception area. The reception area has a shape and size to support and hold the hand held electronic device in a charging position when the protective cover case is fitted on the hand held electronic device. The docking charger also has a charger adapter formed to be removably fitted in the reception area of the docking base. The charger adapter has an interior chamber shaped and sized to directly support and hold the hand held electronic device in the charging position when the protective cover case is removed from the hand held electronic device. The docking charger has two working positions. In the first working position where the charger adapter is removed from the reception area of the docking base, the reception area is exposed to receive the hand held electronic device fitted with its protective cover case. In the second working position, the charger adapter is fitted inside the reception area of the docking base to directly receive the hand held electronic device free of its protective cover case.

Claims

1. A docking charger for charging a hand held electronic device, which is used with a protective cover case during normal use of the hand held electronic device, the docking charger comprising:

a docking base adapted for connecting to a power source and formed with a reception area, the reception area having a shape and size to support and hold the hand held electronic device in a charging position when the protective cover case is fitted on the hand held electronic device; and

a charger adapter formed to be removably fitted in the reception area of the docking base, the charger adapter having an interior chamber shaped and sized to directly receive and support and hold the hand held electronic device in the charging position when the protective cover case is removed from the hand held electronic device;

wherein the docking charger has a first working position where at least part of the charger adapter is removed from the reception area of the docking base to receive the hand held electronic device fitted with its protective cover case; and

wherein the docking charger has a second working position where the charger adapter is fitted inside the reception area of the docking base to directly receive the hand held electronic device free of its protective cover case.

2. The docking charger of claim 1, wherein the docking base comprises a charging connector formed on a portion of a surrounding wall of the reception area and extending inside the reception area, the charging connector comprising a contact portion adapted to electrically contact a charging port of the hand held electronic device when the hand held electronic device is in the charging position.

3. The charger adapter of claim 2, wherein the charging connector further comprises a base portion extending from the portion of the surrounding wall and the contact portion is formed on the base portion.

4. The docking charger of claim 3, wherein the base portion has a height measured from the portion of the surrounding wall, said height being substantially the same as a thickness of the protective cover case.

5. The docking charger of claim 4, wherein the charger adapter has a rear wall with a thickness substantially the same as the height of the base portion of the charging connector.

6. The docking charger of claim 3, wherein the base portion is partially in contact with the protective cover case in the first working position, and wherein the base portion is partially in contact with the charger adapter in the second working position.

7. The docking charger of claim 1, wherein the charger adapter at least partially contacts the base portion of the charging connector in the second working position.

8. The docking charger of claim 1, wherein the charger adapter has a cup shape formed by a surrounding wall having a thickness substantially the same as a thickness of the protective cover case.

9. The charger adapter of claim 1, wherein the charger adapter comprises a plurality of stackable adapter units compatible with a respective plurality of different protective cover cases.

10. The docking charger of claim 1, wherein the charger adapter is formed with an access opening for passing a contact portion to electrically connect the hand held electronic device with the docking base at the second working position, whereby the charger adapter is formed without an electrical contact.

11. An accessory kit being used with a docking base during a battery charging operation for a hand held electronic device, the accessory kit comprising:

a protective cover case adapted to be fitted onto the hand held electronic device and having a portion shaped and sized for receipt in a reception area in the docking base along with the hand held electronic device; and

a charger adapter configured to directly support and hold a portion of the hand held electronic device in the reception area in the docking base;

wherein the accessory kit has a first working position where at least part of the charger adapter is removed to receive the hand held electronic device fitted with its protective cover case in the reception area of the docking base; and

wherein the accessory kit has a second working position where the charger adapter is used to directly support the hand held electronic device free of its protective cover case in the reception area of the docking base.

12. The accessory kit of claim 11, wherein the charger adapter and a lower portion of the protective cover case are formed to have a substantially same thickness.

13. The accessory kit of claim 11, wherein the protective cover case and the charger adapter are formed with access openings for accommodating a charging connector on the docking base, and wherein the access openings are formed to have substantially the same size.

14. The accessory kit of claim 11 further comprising a docking base adapted for connecting to a power source and formed with a reception area, the reception area being configured to accommodate a portion of the hand held electronic device together with the protective cover case fitted on the hand held electronic device.

15. The accessory kit of claim 14, wherein the charger adapter comprises a surrounding wall defining an exterior surface and an interior chamber, the interior chamber of the charger adapter being configured to directly receive a portion of the hand held electronic device without a protective cover case;

and the exterior surface of the charger adapter being configured to be fit inside the reception area of the docking base.

16. The accessory kit of claim 15, wherein the docking base comprises a charging connector formed on a portion of a surrounding wall of the reception area, the charging connector comprising a base portion raised from the portion of the surrounding wall for a height, and wherein the protective cover case and the charger adapter each have a thickness substantially the same as the height of the base portion.

17. The accessory kit of claim 11 comprising a plurality of protective cover cases having different thickness, wherein the charger adapter comprises a plurality of stackable adapter units, at least one of the stackable adapter units having an interior chamber shaped and sized to directly receive a portion of the hand held electronic device fitted with one of the plurality of protective cover case with a smaller exterior size.

18. The docking charger of claim 11, wherein the protective cover case is formed with an access opening for passing a contact portion to electrically connect the hand held electronic device with the docking base when the protective cover case is used in the docking base, whereby the protective cover case is formed without an electrical contact.

19. The docking charger of claim 11, wherein the charger adapter is formed with an access opening for passing a contact portion to electrically connect the hand held electronic device with the docking base when the charger adapter is used in the docking base, whereby the charger adapter is formed without an electrical contact.

20. A charger adapter for use with a hand held electronic device during a battery charging operation, the charger adapter comprising a surrounding wall defining an exterior surface and an interior chamber,

wherein the interior chamber of the charger adapter is configured to directly receive a portion of the hand held electronic device without a protective cover case;

and

wherein the exterior surface of the charger adapter is configured for receipt in a reception area in a docking base and to be supported thereby;

wherein the charger adapter has a first working position where at least part of the charger adapter is removed to receive the hand held electronic device fitted with its protective cover case in the reception area of the docking base; and

wherein the charger adapter has a second working position where the charger adapter is used to directly receive the hand held electronic device free of its protective cover case in the reception area of the docking base.

21. The docking charger of claim 20, wherein the charger adapter is formed with an access opening for passing a contact portion to electrically connect the hand held electronic device with the docking base when the charger adapter is used in the docking base, whereby the charger adapter is formed without an electrical contact.

22. An accessory kit for a hand held electronic device, the accessory kit comprising:

a protective cover case adapted to be fitted onto the hand held electronic device during the normal use of the hand held electronic device; and

a docking base adapted for connecting to a power source and formed with a reception area having at least two working positions, wherein a first working position configured to accommodate a portion of the hand held electronic device together with the protective cover case fitted on the hand held electronic device and a second working position configured to accommodate a portion of the handheld without the protective case;

wherein the protective cover case has a portion shaped and sized to be supported by the reception area in the docking base, when the protective cover case is fitted onto the hand held electronic device and is received in the first working position in the docking base.

23. The accessory kit of claim 22,

wherein the docking base comprises a charging connector formed on a portion of a surrounding wall of the reception area, the charging connector comprising a base portion raised from the portion of the surrounding wall for a height, and

wherein the protective cover case has a thickness substantially the same as the height of the base portion of the charging connector.

24. The accessory kit of claim 23 comprising a plurality of protective cover cases adapted to be fitted onto different hand held electronic devices,

wherein the plurality of protective cover cases each have a portion shaped and sized to be supported by the reception area in the docking base, when the protective cover case is fitted onto the hand held electronic device and is received in the reception area in the docking base.

25. The docking charger of claim 22, wherein the protective cover case is formed with an access opening for passing a contact portion to electrically connect the hand held electronic device with the docking base when the protective cover case is used in the docking base, whereby the protective cover case is formed without an electrical contact.

26. A charger adapter for use with a hand held electronic device during a battery charging and/or data transferring operation, the charger adapter comprising a first adapter unit having a surrounding wall defining an exterior surface and an interior chamber;

wherein the exterior surface of the first adapter unit is configured for receipt in a reception area of a docking base and to be supported thereby; and

wherein the interior chamber of the first adapter unit is configured to receive a portion of the hand held electronic device and a first protective case fitted on the hand held electronic device, thereby supporting and holding the hand held electronic device and the first protective case in the reception area of the docking base;

wherein the charger adapter has a first working position where the first adapter unit is used to receive the hand held electronic device fitted with the first protective case in the reception area of the docking base;

wherein the charger adapter has a second working position where at least part of the first adapter unit is removed to receive the hand held electronic device fitted with a second protective case in the reception area of the docking base; and

wherein the first and second protective cases have different thicknesses.

27. The charger adapter of claim 26, wherein the first adapter unit comprises a plurality of stackable sub-units each having an interior chamber configured to receive the portion of the hand held electronic device fitted with protective cases of different thickness, whereby the plurality of the stackable sub-units are capable of supporting and holding the hand held electronic device fitted with the respective protective cases of different thicknesses in the reception area of the docking base.

28. The charger adapter of claim 26 further comprising a second adapter unit, the second adapter unit having a surrounding wall defining an exterior surface and an interior chamber;

wherein the exterior surface of the second adapter unit is configured for receipt in a reception area of a docking base and to be supported thereby;

wherein the second adapter unit has an interior chamber configured to directly receive the portion of the hand held electronic device without a protective case, thereby directly supporting and holding the hand held electronic device without a protective case in the reception area of the docking base.

29. The docking charger of claim 26, wherein the first adapter unit is formed with an access opening for passing a contact portion to electrically connect the hand held electronic device with the docking base when the first adapter unit is used in the docking base, whereby the first adapter unit is formed without an electrical contact.

30. The docking charger of claim 28, wherein the second adapter unit is formed with an access opening for passing a contact portion to electrically connect the hand held electronic device with the docking base when the second adapter unit is used in the docking base, whereby the second adapter unit is formed without an electrical contact.

31. A charger adapter kit for use with a hand held electronic device during a battery charging and/or data transferring operation, the charger adapter kit comprising a plurality of first charger adapters each comprising a surrounding wall defining an exterior surface and an internal chamber,

wherein the exterior surface of each of the plurality of first charger adapters is configured for receipt in a reception area of a docking base and to be supported thereby;

wherein the interior chambers of the plurality of first charger adapters are configured to receive a portion of the hand held electronic device fitted with respective protective cases of different thicknesses, whereby each of the plurality of first charger adapters is capable of supporting and holding the hand held electronic device fitted with a respective protective case in the reception area of the docking base;

wherein the charger adapter kit has a first working position where a first of the plurality of first charger adapters is used to receive the hand held electronic device fitted with a protective case of a first thickness in the reception area of the docking base and; and

wherein the charger adapter kit has a second working position where a second of the plurality of first charger adapters is used to receive the hand held electronic device fitted with a protective case of a second different thickness in the reception area of the docking base.

32. The charger adapter kit of claim 31 further comprising a second charger adapter, which comprises a surrounding wall defining an exterior surface and an internal chamber,

wherein the exterior surface of the second charger adapter is configured for receipt in the reception area of the docking base and to be supported thereby;

and

wherein the interior chamber of the second charger adapter unit is configured to directly receive the portion of the hand held electronic device without a protective case, thereby directly supporting and holding the hand held electronic device without a protective case in the reception area of the docking base.

33. The docking charger of claim 31, wherein each of the plurality of first charger adapters is formed with an access opening for passing a contact portion to electrically connect the hand held electronic device with the docking base when the first charger adapter is used in the docking base, whereby the plurality of first charger adapters are formed without an electrical contact.

34. The docking charger of claim 32, wherein the second charger adapter is formed with an access opening for passing a contact portion to electrically connect the hand held electronic device with the docking base when the second charger adapter is used in the docking base, whereby the second charger adapter is formed without an electrical contact.