US20160347509A1

US20160347509A1 - Electronic device bedside storage unit

Info

Publication number: US20160347509A1
Application number: US14/725,136
Authority: US
Inventors: David T. Callan; Yvone M. Callan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2015-05-29
Filing date: 2015-05-29
Publication date: 2016-12-01

Abstract

A storage unit for holding a cell phone, with the storage unit attachable to bedding. The storage unit has a front panel and a semi rigid back panel, with the back panel being stiff enough that it does not fold in upon itself when the weight of a cell phone is placed in the pocket formed between the front and the back panel. The front panel has a cord passage for attachment of the cell phone to an outlet such as speakers or a charging unit, or an alarm clock. A magnetic attachment allows the storage unit to be attached to bedding in a position which is convenient for the user, typically along the side of the mattress.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The presently disclosed and claimed technology generally relates to storage devices, and more particularly to a bedside storage device for cell phones and the like.

BACKGROUND

Cell phones have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life, and people carry them everywhere. As more and more communications and utilities are based on telephones, it becomes important even at night to have a cell phone nearby, to serve as an alarm clock, to get important messages, and as late night entertainment. Another need when using a cell phone is to charge the cell phone, and charging it at night is a convenient way to keep the cell phone charged while having the cell phone accessible at all times. One problem with having access to a phone while in bed is that not everyone has a nightstand nearby where they sleep. They also may be traveling and not have their usual arrangements for placing the cell phone or charging the cell phone nearby to where they sleep. The cell phone may also have the alarm clock function being utilized at night or when traveling, and it may also need to be kept nearby for night time reading, receiving and sending messages, checking websites and keeping in touch with friends and family. For all of these reasons, it is important to be able to have a cell phone nearby even when sleeping, and it is important to be able to charge that cell phone while a person is sleeping, and it is important to have the cell phone accessible when sleeping even when the person is traveling.

SUMMARY

Disclosed is a storage unit for storage of devices such as cell phones. This storage unit is configured for attachment to bedding, which can be the fitted sheet on a mattress, can be the sheet which is placed over a person, it can also be the pillow case, a blanket, a comforter, or other bedding, or even objects that are near the bedding such as a nightstand. The device is made up of a semi rigid and planer or flat back panel. Semi rigid refers to a material which does not readily fold together when weight is placed in the middle of the panel. An example of a semi rigid material, which would be suitable for use as a back panel, would be a piece of cardboard, fiber board, synthetic or plastic which does not easily fold in at the middle.
Attached to the back panel is a flexible front panel. It is joined to the back panel along three sides with a top edge of the front panel being unattached to the back panel, thus providing a pocket between the back panel and the front panel. The front panel can be made of a fabric material. The back panel may be made of a fabric in which is inserted a stiffening material such as plastic, cardboard or material such as Bontex or Texon. The important feature about the stiffness factor of the back panel is that it should be flat when hanging at the side of a bed and when an object such as a cell phone is dropped into the pocket, it remains flat and does not fold in upon itself, as a purely fabric pocket would do. The front panel can include gussets along the side which would allow the pocket to expand somewhat when a cell phone is placed inside the pocket. The storage unit has a cord passage which is defined in either the front or the back panel, preferably the front panel, which is something like a slot or button hole, through which a cord such as a cord for charging the cell phone could pass.
The device attaches to bedding by use of a two piece magnetic attachment unit. Attachment can be by sewing, bonding, gluing, riveting, or other conventional means. The magnetic attachment unit can be made up of a magnet forming one of the magnet units, and either a magnet or a piece of metal such as steel, which is attracted to a magnet forming the other magnet unit. One of the units would be attached to the back panel of the storage device, and the other magnet unit is detachable and would be placed behind a material such as the fitted sheet of the mattress, a blanket, or the edge of the pillow case. In this way the storage unit would be attached to and suspended from bedding, so that it could be placed within easy arm's reach so that it is on the side of the bed or mattress, next to the user.
The back panel can be the same size as the front panel, but it is preferably a piece which is the same width as the front panel, but which extends higher than the front panel. This can be in a rectangular portion which extends above the front panel, a semi circular or triangular or other shape, or preferably can be in a trapezoidal portion. One version of the device has a hinged flap attached to the top edge of the back panel, in which one of the magnet units is secured. Since the hinge unit is readily turned to an angle to the rest of the back panel, the hinge unit can be placed in a horizontal position on top of the mattress while the back panel hangs in a vertical position along the side of the mattress.
The design is slim and discrete and is not visible when the bed is made. This is unlike other products in this category, which are bulky and rest under the top bed mattress, and are visible on the side of the mattress.
The magnetic attachment prevents damage to bedding, which can occur with pins, snaps, etc.
The device can be used on any bed with sheeting. Other products are limited to usage by exact only situations. For example, a box spring with a framed bed will not work for their product. Nor would a futon, air mattress, bunk beds or other nontraditional beds. Only the disclosed device will work with all bedding scenarios.
Gusseted and or pleated pocket design allows for extra capacity and expansion. The Smart Reach pocket has ability to be slim but can expand to accommodate not only the phone but bulky protective cases which hold phones.
Hinge top panel. Our hinge top panel gives the user the flexibility to place the Smart Reach at the top of the bed mattress, which creates a waterfall effect allowing the pocket to drop over the mattress.
Electrical opening. Enables the user to charge their phone while the product is being stored.
Specially coated material allowing easy cleaning and water resistance.
No assembly required. Our product can be attached to your bed once removed from the packaging.
Our product offers the option for the customer to add a custom logo, brand name, or personal saying, initials or any text, photo. The front or back of our product is designed and manufactured to accept embroidery, silk screen, and heat transfer. In addition, custom material colors are options that hard cased products do not offer.
Personal belongings clutter on bedside tables. Many people have too many items that need to be available close to their bedside. Our product allows the user to insert their Smartphone/cell phone into a convenient pocket which easily attaches to their bed sheeting.
Gives users the option to store a phone close to them while sleeping. Some people do not have a bedside table or find placing their phone on the floor to be troublesome and a challenge to reach.
The disclosed device enables the user to store their phone very close to their body in a protective, stationary and controlled environment while at the same time not disturbing their sleep like other randomly placed phones. People are using specialty apps to monitor sleeping patterns, resting heart rate and other apps are constantly being developed. The disclosed device offers the ability to utilize these apps when it is imperative to the function of the app that the phone be close to the user's body while sleeping.
The purpose of the Abstract is to enable the public, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is neither intended to define the inventive concept(s) of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the inventive concept(s) in any way.
Still other features and advantages of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description describing preferred embodiments of the inventive concept(s), simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out the inventive concept(s). As will be realized, the inventive concept(s) is capable of modification in various obvious respects all without departing from the inventive concept(s). Accordingly, the drawings and description of the preferred embodiments are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive in nature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the disclosed storage device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the presently disclosed inventive concept(s) is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the inventive concept(s) to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the inventive concept(s) as defined in the claims.
A preferred embodiment of the disclosed technology is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows the device storage unit 10, which is made up of a semi rigid flat back panel 12, and a front panel 14. Attached to the top edge 16 of the back panel 12 is a hinged portion 18 in which is positioned an attached magnet unit 20. An unattached magnet unit 22 is also seen which is used to place and secure the device 10 on a piece of bedding such as fabric of a fitted sheet.
The preferred material of the front panel is a fabric such as a smooth polyester or nylon fabric. It is important that the fabric be easily cleaned, because washing the device can be problematic due to the enclosed magnet in the device, which can stick to the inside of the washing machine. The water can also damage the enclosed magnet. It is preferred that the front panel have gussets 24 which allow the pocket to expand somewhat, but the gussets are optional. One embodiment of the device is one in which the back panel 12 is made up of two layers of fabric, with a stiffening material 26 placed inside the back panel. The stiffening material 26 is shown in dotted line in FIG. 1. The back panel 12 can also be made of a stiffening material, to which the front panel 14 is attached. The device also includes a cord passage 28 for the passage of a cord such as a charging cord for a cell phone or other electronic device. A retainer clip may be used to secure the cord to the device.
One preferred embodiment of the device is one in which the storage unit is 5 inches wide and the front panel is 4¾ inches tall. The gusset can be ¾ of an inch in depth. The back panel can extend above the front panel approximately 3-4 inches, be trapezoidal in shape, and have a top edge 16 which is approximately 2 inches wide. The hinged portion 18 would be attached to the top edge 16 of the top panel, and like the back panel, would be two layers of fabric with an article enclosed between the layers of fabric, which would be the attached magnet unit 20. Either of the magnet units can be a magnet, or one can be a magnet and the other one can be a piece of ferromagnetic material such as steel.
A preferred material for the stiffener 26 is Bontex which can be approximately 0.4 mm to 1 mm in thickness. Bontex 101 and Bontex 30 are examples of cellulose material which are suitable, and which can be treated to resist microbial growth. Bontex is a natural fiber, with elastometic bonding. Bontex 101 or Bontex 30, at least 0.40 mm thick is preferred for this device, but other materials which are sufficiently rigid can be used. The requirement of stiffness means that the stiffener 26 can't be made of a fabric. It may be a piece of plastic, synthetic material, carbon fiber sheet, fiber board, or cardboard which is at least as stiff as the specified stiffness. As an example of how stiff this degree of stiffness is, if a 5×4 block of material is supported only on the 4 inch edges, with the 5 inch wide portion suspended unsupported, when cell phone weighing 120 grams is placed on that back panel, the back panel deflects less than one and a half inches.
Bontex 101 has a stiffness (MD) of from 78 to 550 for thicknesses of 0.45 mm to 1.00 mm. It also has a stiffness (CMD) of 40 to 256 for thickness of 0.45 to 1.00 mm. The stiffness is tested by a TAPPI 489 standard. This test method covers a procedure used to measure the resistance to bending of paper and paperboard. This test method is used to determine the bending moment required to deflect the free end of a 38 mm (1.5 in.) wide vertically clamped specimen 15° from its center line when the load is applied 50 mm (1.97 in.) away from the clamp. The resistance to bending is calculated from the bending moment. A stiffness of at least 70 is sufficient for this application.
While certain exemplary embodiments are shown in the figures and described in this disclosure, it is to be distinctly understood that the presently disclosed inventive concept(s) is not limited thereto but may be variously embodied to practice within the scope of the following claims. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A device storage unit for attachment to bedding, comprising:

a semi-rigid and planar back panel;

a flexible front panel joined to said back panel along three sides, with a top edge of said front panel unsecured to said back panel, thus defining a pocket between said back panel and said front panel;

a two piece magnetic attachment unit attached to said back panel, for magnetic attachment of said device storage unit to bedding; and

with a charging cord passage defined in either of said panels, said pocket for holding a device and with said cord passage configured for allowing said device to connect to services outside said device storage unit.

2. The device storage unit of claim 1 in which said back panel is the same width as said front panel, but taller than said front panel with part of said back panel extending above said front panel.

3. The device storage unit of claim 1 in which said back panel is the same width as said front panel, but taller than said front panel with said part of said back panel extending above said front panel being trapezoidal in shape.

4. The device storage unit of claim 3 which further comprises a hinged portion attached to a top edge of said top panel.

5. The device storage unit of claim 4 in which said two piece magnetic attachment unit has one piece attached to said hinged portion.

6. A device storage unit for attachment to bedding, comprising:

a semi-rigid and planar back panel;

a flexible front panel joined to said back panel along three sides, with a top edge of said front panel unsecured to said back panel, thus defining a pocket between said back panel and said front panel, in which said back panel is the same width as said front panel, but taller than said front panel with said part of said back panel extending above said front panel being trapezoidal in shape.

a hinged portion attached to a top edge of said top panel;

a two piece magnetic attachment unit attached to said hinged portion of said back panel, for magnetic attachment of said device storage unit to bedding, said two piece magnetic attachment unit comprising an attached magnet unit and a detachable magnet unit, with one of said magnet units being a magnet and one of said magnet units being attracted to a magnet; and

a charging cord passage defined in said back panel, said pocket configured for holding a device, and with said cord passage configured for allowing said device to connect to services outside said device storage unit.