ATTACHMENT FOR DIGITAL CONTROL OF PORTABLE DEVICE

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/702,308 filed Sep. 18, 2012, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all of its teachings.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an attachment to a small handheld device which has an opening through which to insert one or more fingers, of a single hand, and which helps to secure the device against falling from the grasp of the hand, and at the same time allows manipulation of buttons, keys and screen icons by use of the thumb.

BACKGROUND

Most individuals who own cellular phones have had the experience of dropping the phone. If lucky, the phone drops harmlessly to the floor, carpet or ground. If unlucky, the phone lands on a hard surface and breaks, or in the sink or toilet and becomes wet and ceases to function. There are also individuals who have limited or no use of one hand, and for which a secure grip on a portable, hand-held device would be particularly useful.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART

A web search of “finger strap for cell phone” reveals a number of products on the market that can be added as attachments to the back of a portable hand-held electronic device to aid in holding the device and preventing it from slipping from the hand. Most consist of elastomeric bands affixed to the back of the phone through which the user inserts one or more fingers. The finger support allows the user to hold the phone in, and dial with the thumb of, one hand. The devices are affixed to the back of portable electronic devices via glue, pressure sensitive adhesive, loop and hook fasteners, often with the stipulation that the attachment can be removed without damage to the electronic device. This type of device is disclosed in one issued patent (U.S. Pat. No. 8,480,144) issued to Potter et al. and specifically applied to electronic tablets. The disclosed device has individual finger slots for four fingers and offers the specific claim that individual finger slots make the tablet easier to control and balance. References cited in that patent which describe similar attachments for portable, hand-held electronic devices include the following patent applications:

• • 1. 20050205623 by Buntain—a piece of fabric glued to the back of a portable electronic device with two parallel slits defining a band (not glued) which can be raised and a finger inserted under the band.
  • 2. 20090219677 by Mori—which has a belt base attached to the back of a portable electronic device followed by the subsequent attachment of a belt
  • 3. 20090283559 by Foggiato discloses a cord or strip of fabric loosely held on the back or a portable electronic via fixation points snaps, buckles, hook and loop etc at either end. The suggested advantage is the ease of putting fingers under the strap.
  • 4. 20110266316 by Gahlib—which discloses a loop, ring, or cylinder attached via a mounting pad onto the back of a portable electronic device.

Other patent applications (which have not been issued yet) for gripping aids for hand-held electronic devices include:

• • 5. 20120299318 by Murphy et al. which discloses a flexible or elastomeric strip adhered to the back of a hand-held electronic device via film adhesive or two sided tape.
  • 6. 20120261930 by Bethea which discloses a hard back which contains one or more rings mounted within the back that can be rotated to be perpendicular to the back, providing rings through which to insert fingers and grip the hand-held device.
  • 7. 20060279098 by Shipley which affixes a loop to the back of a hand held electronic device. Almost any attachment method is described—hook and loop, adhesive, elastomeric band or hard plastic clip.

This prior art generally suffers from one or more of several deficiencies:

• • 1. It is heavy and/or cumbersome,
  • 2. It protrudes too far from the surface of the hand held electronic device,
  • 3. It cannot lie flat in a plane with the device and so catches on holsters or other cases when trying to insert it into its case,
  • 4. Difficulty in getting the fingers in the finger slots without the use of both hands.
  • 5. Some attachments with finger insert to hold the device are hard plastic or metal rings rather than the soft plastic or fabric flap with a hole in it. The hard plastic or metal ring is less comfortable on the fingers when supporting the device

SUMMARY

It is the objective of the current invention to provide a secure, one-handed grip and use of hand-held electronic devices while eliminating the deficiencies 1-4 listed above. To meet this objective, the present invention is directed to an attachment device, comprising a generally planar attachment surface including two spaced and generally parallel slits therein. Each of the slits extends generally perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the attachment surface, and each of the slits also extends inwardly from an edge of the attachment surface so as to create a flap, which is integral with the attachment surface and pivotable about the longitudinal axis of the attachment surface. The flap includes one or more openings for receiving one or more of a user's fingers therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a picture of a fabric (100) cut in the manner suitable for the attachment to the back of a portable, hand-held device such as a cell phone. The flap (101) is free to be raised from the back of the phone, so that one or more fingers of one hand can be inserted through the hole (102).

FIG. 2 shows the fabric of FIG. 1 glued or taped (103) to the back of a cell phone (104). The glue or tape (103) is placed between the fabric and cell phone in all areas of the fabric except for the loose flap (101) with its hole (102) for inserting the finger(s).

FIG. 3 shows a molded silicone cell phone back with a flap (105) containing a hole 102 for inserting one or more fingers.

FIG. 4 The molded silicone wraps tightly around the edge (106) of the cell phone to hold it in place on the back of the phone (107). Other holes may be molded into the back, or cut in the molded back for I/O connections such as charging (108), earphone (109), USB connection (110), or camera lens.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

Although the most prevalent use of the disclosed invention is expected to be with cellular phones and personal data assistants, the invention should function equally well with calculators, small data tablets, small cameras and other hand held electronic or optical devices, and these application fall within the scope of this invention.

One preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a thin piece of durable fabric or flexible film cut in the manner shown in FIG. 1. It is cut in such a size to almost completely cover the back of a cell phone and is glued onto the cell phone with glue covering all the area except the flap 101. Various other small holes may be cut in the fabric to accommodate various I/O ports or camera lens. In a preferred embodiment, the flap is sufficiently flexible that it hangs away from the back surface of the device, when that device is held horizontally with the back facing down. This allows the user to easily insert his finger(s) through the hole using only one hand. The flexible fabric can fold flat onto the back of the device for storage in a holster or other protective case.

A second preferred embodiment comprises the flexible elastomeric backs that stretch sufficiently to fit securely over the edges of the device. Such backs are most often made of silicone rubber, but other materials such as thermoplastic elastomers, polyurathanes, and other soft, slip resistant materials. Cutting the backing in the manner shown in FIG. 3 allows for one to lift the flap and insert the finger(s) using a single hand. After use, the flap easily folds back into the cut opening, flush with the molded back for insertion into a holster or other protective case. The device of FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 4, attached to a cell phone.

It is also recognized that some cell phone cases are made of leather or synthetic leather. Such cases could have the slits and hole could be cut in these materials to create the geometry of FIG. 3.

Any of the gripping aids could be imprinted with a design or advertising to make them useful in promoting commerce.

Various Embodiments/Examples

• • 1. A piece of fabric cut in the shape of FIG. 1 is attached to the back of a cell phone with double sided tape. The hole is large enough for one or two fingers to be inserted. When so inserted the fingers hold the phone in a convenient orientation for dialing or texting with the thumb of the grasping hand or the fingers of the other hand with little or no danger of the phone slipping out of the hand. The hole is in an unglued flap of the fabric which can stand out from the back of the phone when in use and fold flat to phone back for inserting the phone in a holster attached to a belt or in a protective case. The fabric is flexible enough that the flap falls somewhat away from the phone when the fabric is on the lower surface, thus enabling easy insertion of the finger(s).
  • 2. A silicone injection molded backing for a particular brand and model of cell phone was purchased and cut as shown in FIG. 3. It was then placed on the phone for which it was designed (FIG. 4). The flap cut in the backing was easily raised from the surface of the phone and the fingers easily inserted through the hole in the flap, without the use of two hands, to allow a firm grasp and freedom for dialing and texting with the thumb of the gripping hand, or fingers of the other hand with little or no danger of the phone slipping out of the hand. The flap lies flat within the thickness of the molded back when not in use, which makes it easy to insert the phone in a holster attached to a belt or in a protective case.
  • 3. Although the backing shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 were cut by hand, it will be well understood to those skilled in the art that the device could be made by die cutting the molded back or by molding the cutouts into the back during manufacturing (rather than in a secondary operation). It will also be understood that the molded flap could be slightly curved away from the phone back and make the insertion of fingers easier to accomplish. This could be accomplished without sacrificing the ability of the flap to flatten flush with the elastomeric back so that it will not interfere with insertion of the phone into its holster or protective case.

The foregoing description of the present invention has been presented to illustrate the principles of the invention and not to limit the invention to the particular embodiments illustrated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by all of the embodiments encompassed within the following claims and their equivalents.