Protective enclosure for electronic device
First Claim
1. A protective enclosure for a handheld electronic device having a capacitance sensing interactive control panel comprising:
- a shell that surrounds and encloses said handheld device when said handheld device is disposed in said shell, said handheld device being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said handheld device being insertable in and removable from said enclosure by hand, said shell being substantially crush-resistant and impact resistant, said shell having an aperture that is aligned with said capacitance-sensing interactive control panel;
a protective membrane that is fixed to said shell over an aperture in said shell so that said protective membrane is recessed with respect to an outer surface of said shell, said protective membrane disposed over said capacitance-sensing interactive control panel of said handheld device when said handheld device is disposed in said enclosure, said protective membrane being sufficiently thin and having a dielectric constant that allows capacitive inputs on a front side of said protective membrane to be transmitted to said capacitance-sensing interactive control panel through said protective membrane;
wherein said protective membrane has a dielectric constant in the range of 2.2 to 3.8;
wherein said protective membrane is made of engineered thermoplastic selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polycarbonate, thermoplastic polypropylene, thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and thermoplastic compositions containing one or more thereof;
wherein said protective membrane has a thickness in the range of 0.003 inches to 0.020 inches; and
wherein said protective membrane has matte texture, said texture having a texture depth of 0.0004 to 0.003 inches that reduces the surface area of said protective membrane that is in frictional contact with a user'"'"'s finger and permits said user'"'"'s finger to glide smoothly upon the surface of the membrane without sticking.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A protective enclosure for an electronic device such as a laptop computer or tablet computer that comprises a shell that is capable of enclosing and substantially surrounding the electronic device. The shell is substantially watertight, substantially rigid and substantially crush-resistant. The inside of the shell has a hook and loop liner with shock absorbing corner bumpers having hook and loop type bases so that the bumpers may attach at any point on the liner inside the shell to accommodate electronic devices of various sizes and to secure the device inside the enclosure in a shock absorbent suspended manner. The shell may further comprise a USB connector hub for connection to the USB port of a laptop computer or PC tablet enclosed in the protective shell.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A protective enclosure for a handheld electronic device having a capacitance sensing interactive control panel comprising:
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a shell that surrounds and encloses said handheld device when said handheld device is disposed in said shell, said handheld device being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said handheld device being insertable in and removable from said enclosure by hand, said shell being substantially crush-resistant and impact resistant, said shell having an aperture that is aligned with said capacitance-sensing interactive control panel; a protective membrane that is fixed to said shell over an aperture in said shell so that said protective membrane is recessed with respect to an outer surface of said shell, said protective membrane disposed over said capacitance-sensing interactive control panel of said handheld device when said handheld device is disposed in said enclosure, said protective membrane being sufficiently thin and having a dielectric constant that allows capacitive inputs on a front side of said protective membrane to be transmitted to said capacitance-sensing interactive control panel through said protective membrane; wherein said protective membrane has a dielectric constant in the range of 2.2 to 3.8; wherein said protective membrane is made of engineered thermoplastic selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polycarbonate, thermoplastic polypropylene, thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and thermoplastic compositions containing one or more thereof; wherein said protective membrane has a thickness in the range of 0.003 inches to 0.020 inches; and wherein said protective membrane has matte texture, said texture having a texture depth of 0.0004 to 0.003 inches that reduces the surface area of said protective membrane that is in frictional contact with a user'"'"'s finger and permits said user'"'"'s finger to glide smoothly upon the surface of the membrane without sticking. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A chemically resistant protective cover for an electronic device having an interactive control panel, the chemically resistant protective cover comprising:
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a protective shell that is crush resistant and has a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion having an inner surface and an outer surface, the protective shell formed to at least partially cover the electronic device when the electronic device is disposed in the protective shell, the electronic device being a separate unit from the protective shell; an aperture defined by the protective shell, the aperture being aligned with the interactive control panel when the electronic device is at least partially covered by the protective shell; a protective membrane configured to be disposed, within the aperture, over and adjacent to the interactive control panel of the electronic device when the electronic device is at least partially covered by the protective shell, the protective membrane and the protective shell forming the protective cover for the electronic device having the interactive control panel, the protective membrane being sufficiently thin to allow inputs on a front side of the protective membrane to be received by the interactive control panel; and a chemically resistant additive provided to at least part of the protective cover to impart chemical resistance to the protective cover. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A protective cover for an electronic device having an interactive control panel, the protective cover comprising:
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a protective shell that is crush resistant and has a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion having an inner surface and an outer surface, the protective shell formed to at least partially cover the electronic device when the electronic device is disposed in the shell, the electronic device being a separate unit from the protective enclosure; an aperture defined by the protective shell, the aperture being aligned with the interactive control panel when the electronic device is at least partially covered by the protective shell; a protective membrane configured to be disposed, within the aperture, over and adjacent to the interactive control panel of the electronic device when the electronic device is at least partially covered by the protective shell, the protective membrane and the protective shell forming the protective cover for the electronic device having the interactive control panel, the protective membrane being sufficiently thin to allow inputs on a front side of the protective membrane to be received by the interactive control panel; and a metallized coating provided to at least part of the protective cover. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A protective cover for an electronic device having an interactive control panel, the protective cover comprising:
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a protective shell having a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion having an inner surface and an outer surface, the protective shell formed to at least partially cover the electronic device when the electronic device is disposed in the shell, the electronic device being a separate unit from the protective enclosure; an aperture defined by the protective shell, the aperture being aligned with the interactive control panel when the electronic device is at least partially covered by the protective shell; a protective membrane configured to be disposed over and adjacent to the interactive control panel of the electronic device when the electronic device is at least partially covered by the protective shell, the protective membrane and the protective shell forming the protective cover for the electronic device having the interactive control panel, the protective membrane being sufficiently thin to allow inputs on a front side of the protective membrane to be received by the interactive control panel; and a metallic additive provided to at least part of the protective cover. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification