PROTECTIVE ENCLOSURE FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE
First Claim
1. A protective enclosure for an electronic device 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 hook and loop liner attached to an inner surface of said shell;
movable shock absorbing corner bumpers; and
hook and loop material secured to a base portion of said shock absorbing bumpers so that said shock absorbing bumpers can be releaseably attached at any point on the liner inside said shell to fit snuggly at the corners of said electronic device so as to secure said electronic device according to the size of said electronic device.
15 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.
273 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A protective enclosure for an electronic device comprising:
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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 hook and loop liner attached to an inner surface of said shell;
movable shock absorbing corner bumpers; and
hook and loop material secured to a base portion of said shock absorbing bumpers so that said shock absorbing bumpers can be releaseably attached at any point on the liner inside said shell to fit snuggly at the corners of said electronic device so as to secure said electronic device according to the size of said electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for electronic devices comprising:
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providing a protective shell that is capable of enclosing said electronic devices and that is substantially rigid and substantially crush-resistant;
attaching a hook and loop liner to an interior surface of said shell to secure said electronic devices of various sizes;
providing shock absorbent corner bumpers; and
attaching hook and loop material to said shock absorbent corner bumpers so that said corner bumpers can be attached to said hook and loop liner at any desired location to secure said electronic devices having various sizes. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A protective enclosure for an electronic device having an interactive flat-panel control comprising:
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a shell that is capable of enclosing said electronic device, said electronic device being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said electronic device being insertable in and removable from said enclosure by hand, said shell being substantially crush-resistant and having an interactive flat-panel control opening formed in said shell that is aligned with said interactive flat-panel control when said electronic device is disposed in said protective enclosure;
a shock-absorbing cushion that is fixed and sealed to said shell, said shock-absorbing cushion forming a seal between said shell and said shock absorbing cushion; and
a protective membrane that is fixed and sealed to said shock absorbing cushion so that said protective enclosure is substantially watertight, said protective membrane aligned with said interactive flat-panel control of said electronic device when said electronic device is disposed in said enclosure and recessed from an outer surface of said shell to protect said interactive flat-panel control from breakage, said protective membrane having a back side that is adjacent to said interactive flat-panel control of said electronic device when said electronic device is disposed in said protective enclosure so that inputs on a front side of said protective membrane are communicated to said interactive flat-panel control through said protective membrane, said protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that said interactive flat-panel control is visible through said protective membrane. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A protective enclosure for a handheld device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control comprising:
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a shell that is capable of enclosing said handheld device, 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
a protective membrane that is integrally fixed to an inner surface of 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 flat-panel control 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 capacitive-sensing interactive flat-panel control through said protective membrane. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for a device having an interactive flat-panel control comprising:
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providing a protective shell that is crush resistant and impact resistant, said device being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said device being insertable in and removable from said shell by hand;
forming an aperture in said shell that is aligned with said interactive flat-panel control when said device is disposed in said protective enclosure; and
attaching a protective membrane on an inner surface of said shell over said aperture in said shell, said protective membrane being integrally fixed on said shell so that said protective membrane is disposed over said interactive flat-panel control of said device when said device is disposed in said enclosure and recessed from an outer surface of said shell to prevent damage to said interactive flat-panel control, said protective membrane and said protective shell forming a protective enclosure for said interactive flat-panel control. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for a device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control comprising:
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providing a protective shell that is crush-resistant and impact-resistant, said protective shell that is adapted to enclose a device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control, said device being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said device being insertable in and removable from said shell by hand;
forming an aperture in said shell that is aligned with said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control when said device is disposed in said protective enclosure; and
attaching a protective membrane to an inner surface of said shell over said aperture, said protective membrane being integrally fixed on said shell so that said protective membrane is disposed over said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of said device when said device is disposed in said enclosure and said protective membrane is recessed from an outer surface of said shell to prevent damage to said interactive flat-panel control, said protective membrane being sufficiently thin and having dielectric constant that allows capacitive inputs on a front side of said protective membrane to be communicated to said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control through said protective membrane.
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Specification