US20090242438A1

US20090242438A1 - Protection Cover Apparatus For Video Players

Info

Publication number: US20090242438A1
Application number: US12/057,458
Authority: US
Inventors: Chia-Cheng Fu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-03-28
Filing date: 2008-03-28
Publication date: 2009-10-01

Abstract

A protection cover apparatus for video players includes a body to encase a video player to provide protection and a functional enhancement portion at one end of the body to provide functional enhancements for the video player. The functional enhancement portion has an adapter extended outwards to be connected with an insertion slot of the video player to form coupling and establish transmission with the video player. The functional enhancement portion also has a wireless transmission means to receive or transmit information and video wirelessly. The functional enhancement portion further has a USB port at one side to be connected to a USB line to perform charging or establish an information link with other information products. Thus it can provide multiple functions such as protecting the video player, wireless information transmission, wireless video transmission, charging and linking to other information products.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a protection cover apparatus for video players and particularly to an apparatus for holding a video player to provide protection and functional enhancement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Portable video players are very popular these days. For instance iPod produced by Apple Co. is an icon of chic products on the market, especially craved by young and fashion-minded people. After procured, users often treasure these products extremely. They usually are slim and light but very powerful, and look stylish and appealing. Thus many people try very hard to guard them from being damaged. A common approach to provide protection is to encase them in a pliable and transparent jelly-like cover. Many other types of protection covers mating the profile of video players also are being developed and introduced. They mostly are “protection shell” aimed to guard the player body. However, a video player, aside from providing its own function, also can be externally connected to expand the function. To meet this requirement, various types of functional enhancement modules have been developed. They often aim to boost some special functions and usually are designed as a single function module. The functional enhancement module often cannot mate the protection cover. This creates a lot of inconveniences to users. Moreover, the functional enhancement module is an individual item and not convenient to carry around. This is against the inherent objective of the video player that demands portability and mobility. Thus there is a need to develop a protection cover apparatus for video players that not only provides protection for a video player, but also integrates consumers' commonly used functions in one body so that users can execute enhanced functions without removing the video player from the protection cover, such as activating wireless transmission device, wireless earphone transmission, charging or linking to other information products and the like to enable the users to enjoy optimal utilization easier through a simpler device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a protection cover apparatus for video players that provides protection for a video player and also has enhanced functions at one end that are frequently used by consumers. To achieve the foregoing object, the protection cover apparatus according to the invention includes a body to house or encase a video player. The body has a housing portion to hold the video player and a functional enhancement portion at one end. The functional enhancement portion has an adapter extended outwards to be coupled with an insertion slot of the video player to establish transmission and coupling therewith. The functional enhancement portion has a wireless transmission means to receive information in a wireless fashion and a wireless earphone transmission means. The functional enhancement portion also has a USB port at one side to be coupled with a USB line to perform charging or information transmission with other information products. Such a design integrates multiple functions to achieve the following benefits:
1. Improved Portability:
The functional enhancement module integrates multiple functions in one body, and can provide multiple functions that are frequently used by consumers. Thus the consumers are saved from the trouble of carrying multiple piecemeal modules.
2. Improved Mobility:
The protection cover apparatus of the invention, by integrating the body and the functional enhancement module in one piece, can free users from the trouble of losing the module that might otherwise occur. It also can transmit audio signals wirelessly to be used on wireless earphones. Thus mobility is enhanced.
In addition, the functional enhancement portion of the invention also is designed to achieve other purposes, such as: considering the most commonly used functions of a video player are transmission of video data, audio transmission and power supply, but most products now on the market provide only a single function. Thus users have to carry additional accessories that incur a lot of inconveniences when in use. As wireless transmission technique is well developed at present, the present invention deploys this technique by including a wireless transmission module to do video information transmission with other wireless-enabled information products. The invention also provides a built-in wireless audio transmission function to be used with wireless earphones. As USB is a widely adopted linking feature on many products, the functional enhancement module of the invention also has a USB port to be linked to the general information products. All this enables users to perform multiple functions needed on the road, such as do charging without carrying an additional charger or link to other wireless-enabled information devices through the USB port. The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the protection cover apparatus of the invention.

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the protection cover apparatus of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the protection cover apparatus and a video player in a coupling condition.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the protection cover apparatus of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 for an embodiment of the protection cover apparatus for a video player 20 of the invention.
The protection cover apparatus has a body 10 which includes a housing portion 11, at least one opening 12 at one side mating the operation interface of the video player 20, a loading slot 13 at one end and a functional enhancement portion 14 at another end. The functional enhancement portion 14 has an adapter 15 extended to the housing portion 11 corresponding to an insertion slot 21 of the video player 20, a wireless transmission means 16 located therein, and a USB port 17 at one side to be coupled with a USB line.
When in use, referring to FIG. 3, the video player 20 is loaded into the housing portion 11 with the insertion slot 21 of the video player 20 connecting to the adapter 15 extended from the functional enhancement portion 14. Such a connection forms a semi-anchored coupling and also establishes a transmission link.
Refer to FIG. 4 for another embodiment of the invention. The opening 12 a of the body 10 a may also be covered by a transparent membrane 121 a to protect the video player 20 from being scraped by external elements.

Claims

1. A protection cover apparatus for video players, comprising at least:

a body which has a housing portion to hold a video player, an opening on at least one side and a loading slot at one end thereof; and

a functional enhancement portion which is located at another end of the body and has an adapter extended to the housing portion to be coupled with the video player, a wireless transmission means located inside and a USB port at one side to be coupled with a USB line.

2. The protection cover apparatus of claim 1, wherein the opening is covered by a transparent membrane.