WO2015078335A1

WO2015078335A1 - Protecting-supporting assembly for tablet electronic product

Info

Publication number: WO2015078335A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/091890
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chengdan TANG; Haitao Jiao
Original assignee: Byd Company Limited
Priority date: 2013-11-26
Filing date: 2014-11-21
Publication date: 2015-06-04
Also published as: CN104665171A; CN104665171B

Abstract

A protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product, includes: a mounting seat (1) configured to fix the tablet electronic product therein; a protecting casing (2), includes a back cover (21) defining an inner surface (211) configured to fix the mounting seat (1) thereon; a front cover (22) connected with the back cover (21) and is adapted to cover the tablet electronic product fixed in the mounting seat (1); and resilient member (20) disposed in the front cover (21) and configured to be switched between a straight state and a curving state, so as to switch the front cover (21) between a cover state and a support state.

Description

PROTECTING-SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY FOR TABLET ELECTRONIC PRODUCT

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority and benefits of Chinese Patent Application No. 201310608210.4, filed with State Intellectual Property Office on November 26, 2013, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a tablet electronic product filed, and more particularly, to a protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product.

BACKGROUND

With the rapid development of the IT industry, a variety of tablet electronic products are very favored by the public. The tablet electronic products generally refer to portable electronic products with a structure of a tablet-type, such as tablet personal computers, e-books, large-screen smart phones, MP4s and game machines. The most common portable electronic product is the tablet personal computer, which is a small-portable personal computer and the touch screen is as the basic input device. The touch screen of the tablet personal computer allows the users to work by the touch pen or the digital pen, rather than the traditional keyboard or mouse. The users can also work by built-in handwriting recognition, on-screen soft keyboard, voice recognition or a real keyboard (if the model of the tablet personal computer is equipped with it) .

With the development of the industry, the accessories of the tablet personal computer are more and more, for example the various holders used to support the tablet personal computer in the horizontal desktop stand, a plastic casing protecting the tablet or the same as writing mounting seat wrapped leather. The existing support structures are generally relatively complex and costly.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure seek to solve at least one of the problems existing in the related art to at least some extent.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product. The protecting-supporting assembly for the tablet electronic product includes: a mounting seat configured to fix the tablet electronic product therein； a protecting casing, comprising: a back cover defining an inner surface configured to fix the mounting seat thereon； a front cover connected with the back cover and is adapted to cover the tablet electronic product fixed in the mounting seat； and resilient member disposed in the front cover and configured to switch between a straight state and a curving state, so as to switch the front cover between a cover state and a support state.

With the protecting-supporting assembly for the tablet electronic product according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the resilient member is disposed in the front cover of the protecting casing, and is deformable to switch between the straight state and the curving state, and thus the front cover can be switched between the cover state and a support state. At the same time, due to the resilient member being inside of the front cover, there is no slots formed in the surface of the front cover for housing the resilient member, and thus an aesthetic sense of the front cover is not affected, and the front cover cannot be broken off after multiple folding, which can improve the using life greatly. The front cover can automatically roll up as the support structure by triggering the deformation of the resilient member, so that the above structure of the protecting-supporting assembly is more compact and easier to operate.

Additional aspects and advantages of embodiments of present disclosure will be given in part in the following descriptions, become apparent in part from the following descriptions, or be learned from the practice of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following descriptions made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product according to an embodiment of the present disclosure；

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product according to an embodiment of the present disclosure；

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the protecting-supporting assembly is closed；

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of an elastic trip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure in a straight state；

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the elastic trip shown in Fig. 4 along an A-Adirection；

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of an elastic trip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure in a bent state；

Fig. 7 is an exploded view of a front cover of a protecting-supporting assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure；

Fig. 8 is a schematic view of a mounting seat of a protecting-supporting assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure；

Fig. 9 is a schematic view of a protecting casing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which a protecting casing is open；

Fig. 10 is a schematic view of a protecting-supporting assembly in a first supporting state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure；

Fig. 11 is an enlarged view of part B shown in the Fig. 10；

Fig. 12 is a schematic view of a protecting-supporting assembly in a second supporting state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure； and

Fig. 13 is an enlarged view of part C shown in the Fig. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure. Embodiments of the present disclosure will be shown in drawings, in which the same or similar elements and the elements having same or similar functions are denoted by like reference numerals throughout the descriptions. The embodiments described herein according to drawings are explanatory and illustrative, not construed to limit the present disclosure.

The following description provides a plurality of embodiments or examples configured to achieve different structures of the present disclosure. In order to simplify the publishment of the present disclosure, components and dispositions of the particular embodiment are described in the following, which are only explanatory and not construed to limit the present disclosure. In addition, the present disclosure may repeat the reference number and/or letter in different embodiments for the purpose of simplicity and clarity, and the repeat does not indicate the relationship of the plurality of embodiments and/or dispositions. Moreover, in description of the embodiments, the structure of the second characteristic “above” the first characteristic may include an embodiment formed by the first and second characteristic contacted directly, and also may include another embodiment formed between the first and the second characteristic, in which the first characteristic and the second characteristic may not contact directly.

In the description of the present disclosure, unless specified or limited otherwise, it should be noted that, terms “mounted, ” “connected” and “coupled” may be understood broadly, such as electronic connection or mechanical connection, inner communication between two elements, direct connection or indirect connection via intermediary. These having ordinary skills in the art should understand the specific meanings in the present disclosure according to specific situations.

With reference to the following descriptions and drawings, these and other aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure will be distinct. In the descriptions and drawings, some particular embodiments are described in order to show means of the principles of embodiments according to the present disclosure, however, it should be appreciated that the scope of embodiments according to the present disclosure is not limited. On the contrary, embodiments of the present disclosure include all the changes, alternatives, and modifications falling into the scope of the spirit and principles of the attached claims.

In the following, a protecting-supporting assembly of a tablet electronic product is described in detail with reference to drawings.

Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the protecting-supporting assembly of the tablet electronic product includes a protecting casing 2, a mounting seat 1 and a resilient member 20. The protecting casing 2 includes a back cover 21and a front cover 22, the front cover 22 is connected with the back cover 21 so that an inner surface 221 of the front cover 22 and an inner surface 211 of the back cover 21 form a plane, and the resilient member 20 is embedded inside of the front cover 22 and is switched between a straight state and a curving state, so as to switch the front cover 22 between a cover state and a support state. The mounting seat 1 is configured to mount the tablet electronic product therein and be fixed on the inner surface 211 of the back cover 21. As shown in Fig. 2, the mounting seat 1 covers the inner surface 211 of the back cover 21, and thus only the inner surface 221 of the front cover 22 is shown in Fig. 2.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the resilient member 20 has a first terminal 201 and a second terminal 202. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the first terminal 201 is toward the back cover 21. The resilient member 20 is transversely disposed inside of the front cover 22, so that the resilient member 20 can be changed from the straight form to the curving form, the resilient member 20 includes at least two elastic trips 200. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the resilient member 20 includes two elastic trips 200, and the two elastic trips 200 are arranged parallel to each other.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the tablet electronic product generally refers to a portable electronic product with a structure of a tablet-type, such as tablet personal computer, e-book, large-screen smart phone, MP4 and game machine, i.e. the tablet personal computer according to the present disclosure is not limited. In other words, the protecting-supporting assembly of the tablet electronic product according to the present disclosure is suitable for a portable electronic product with the structure of the tablet-type.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the protecting-supporting assembly is closed. As shown in Fig. 3, the protecting casing 2 can play a protective role, at this time the resilient member 20 in the front cover 22 of the protecting casing 2 is in the straight form and the front cover 22 can play a traditionally protective cover. The protecting casing 2 can cover the tablet electronic product to protect a screen of the tablet electronic, to keep clean and prevent the screen from being scratched.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of an elastic trip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure in a straight state. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the elastic trip shown in Fig. 4 along an A-Adirection. Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the elastic trip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure in a bent state.

As shown in Fig. 5, the elastic trip 200 includes a sheet-like member which has elastic deformation and is made of a memory metal. That is, the elastic trip 200 has ability to subject to a certain degree load of elastic deformation in a predetermined range, and does not occur in a permanent deformation after the load is removed, and then can be restored to the initial state after subject to the external force again. In other words, the elastic trip 200 can be switched in the two states. As shown in Fig. 4, the elastic trip 200 is formed in the straight state. As shown in Fig. 6, the elastic trip 200 is formed in the curving state. The curving state is a non-straight state which occupies a certain space after the deformation. The elastic trip 200 is formed a ring-like state. The working principle of the elastic trip 200 is described as follows.

As shown in Fig. 5, the elastic trip 200 is a sheet-like member and a cross section of the sheet-like member is an arc with a concave middle section. When manufacturing the elastic trip 200, an annular elastic trip as shown in Fig. 6 is provided firstly under a predetermined condition, and then the annular elastic trip is artificially processed to the straight state. At this time, the cross section of the elastic trip 200 is converted into the arc with a concave section in the middle of the arc, and the elastic trip 200 has a certain height in the longitudinal direction to subject to a torque generated by the elastic trip 200 own, so that the elastic trip 200 can hold the straight state. Once the middle of the elastic trip 200 is applied a pressure, the elastic trip 200 can automatically roll up back to the shape as shown in Fig. 6, so that the front cover 22 can be driven to roll up as well. The rolled part of the front cover 22 can be as a support structure which can support the tablet personal computer at an oblique angle, so that the users are more comfortable for viewing.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the elastic trip 200 may be made of a memory metal, for example spring steel. A common grades of the spring steel is 50, 55, 65, 75, 85, 65Mn, 55si2mn, 60Si2Mn, 60Si2MnA, 60Si2CrA, 65Si2CrVA, 50CRVA, 50CRMNT8A, T10A, etc. The protecting casing 2 can be made

one of artificial leather, leather, plastic skeleton or polycarbonate sheet, etc.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the resilient member 20 is embedded inside of the front cover 22, and the number, the shape, and the size of the resilient member 20 is not particularly limited as long as it can be switched between the two states such that the front cover 22 can be driven to switch between the two states. But it is best that the resilient member 20 includes two or more elastic trips 200. With two or more elastic trips 200, the front cover 22 can be driven to roll up more smoothly, and the shape of the elastic trip 200 does not show in the surface of the front cover 22. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the resilient member 20 includes two the elastic trips 200, and two elastic trips 200 are transversely disposed inside of the front cover 22, in addition, the two elastic trips 200 are arranged in parallel. As shown in Fig. 7, the front cover 22 includes two layers of leather, the two elastic trips 200 are package between the two layers of leather after the two the elastic trips 200 are bonded adhesively and then are treated by a process of heat pressing .

Fig. 7 is an exploded view of a front cover of a protecting-supporting assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 7, the protecting-supporting assembly further includes at least two reinforced sheets 23. Each reinforced sheet defines two mounting grooves 231, and two

terminals

201, 202 of the two elastic trips 200 are disposed on two mounting grooves 231 of the two reinforced sheets 23 respectively. The reinforced sheet 23 is used as a liner to harden the interior of the front cover 22, so the reinforced sheet 23 can be made of a hard piece of cloth, plastic sheet, cardboard, kraft and so on. For example, the kraft is used as the reinforced sheet 23, and the artificial leather is used to manufacture the protecting casing 2. Firstly, the two elastic trips 200 are fixed on the corresponding mounting grooves of the kraft, and with the elastic trips 200 and the kraft are bonded adhesively between the two layers of leather, and then two layers of leather are fixed together by the treatment of heat pressing, such that the front cover 22 with the reinforced sheet 23 can well fix the elastic trip 200 in the two mounting grooves 231 of the reinforced sheets 23 to prevent the elastic trip 200 from moving within the front cover 22, so as to affect the use, which may improve a stability of the structure of the protecting casing 2.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the mounting seat 1 is used to fix and protect the tablet electronic product, and the shape of the mounting seat 1 matches with the shape of the tablet electronic product. Fig. 8 is a schematic view of a mounting seat of a protecting-supporting assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 8, the mounting seat 1 includes a bottom part 11 and two side parts 12 extended from two sides of the bottom part 11, a holding space is formed by the bottom part 11 and the two side parts 12 and is adapted to hold the tablet electronic product therein.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the fixing mean between the mounting seat 1 and the inner surface 211 of the back cover 21 can be used the commonly-used fixing mean in the related art, such as gluing and riveting. Fig. 9 is a schematic view of a protecting casing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which a protecting casing is open. As shown in Fig. 9, the mounting seat 1 is fixed on the inner surface of the back cover 21 by the adhesive. The material of the mounting seat 1 can be used metal, alloy or plastic. It is preferable to use the strength lightweight alloy or suitable plastic to manufacture the back cover 21. For example the polycarbonate can be used (referred to as PC) to manufacture the back cover 21 by injection.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view of a protecting casing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which a protecting casing is open. As shown in Fig. 9, the back cover 21 includes a fixed part 211 and a foldable part 213, the foldable part 213 defines two pressed

grooves

212, 214 at two terminals of the foldable part 213 respectively, an inner surface of the fixed part 211 is adhered to a back surface of the mounting seat 1, the foldable part 213 is connected with the fixed part 211 and the front cover 22 via the two pressed

grooves

212, 214 respectively. The two pressed

grooves

212, 214 include a first pressed groove 212 and a second pressed groove 214. In other words, the first pressed groove 212 is connected with the fixed part 211 and the foldable part 213 respectively, and the second pressed groove 214 is connected with the foldable part 213 and the front cover 22 respectively.

As shown in Fig. 9, the foldable part 213 is not connected with the back surface of the mounting seat 1, and thus the foldable part 213 can drive the front cover 22 to open or close. The foldable part 213 and the back surface of the mounting seat 1 are separated with each other, and the front cover 22 is in the non-protected position. The pressed groove is a thinner and softer connection part, so that the foldable part 213 relative to the fixed part 211 can be folded into open or closed, and the front cover 22 relative to the back cover 21 can be folded into open or closed similarly. The fixed part 211 is adhered to the back surface of the mounting seat 1, at the same time, the foldable part 213 and the front cover 22 can be folded into open or closed, so that the protecting casing 2 can switch between the protecting function and the supporting function.

The operation process of the protecting-supporting assembly is described as follows.

The protecting casing 2 can be freely flipped under the normal state. As shown in Fig. 2, the protecting casing 2 is in the open state. As shown in Fig. 3, the protecting casing 2 is in the closed state, and the protecting casing 2 can cover the tablet electronic product to protect a screen of the tablet electronic, to keep clean and prevent the screen from being scratched. After the protecting casing 2 being folded into the open state as Fig. 2, a position of the two elastic trips 200 in the protecting casing 2 (the elastic trip 200 upward convex side) is pressed with user’s fingers from the outside of the protective cover 2, the elastic trip 200 is immediately bent and drive the front cover 22 to roll up, the rolled part of the front cover 22 is placed on the back surface of the mounting seat 1 to form the state as shown in Fig. 10 and Fig. 12. Thus the deformation of the elastic trip 200 can be used to support, which can well fix and protect the tablet electronic product. The rolled part of the front cover 22 can be bent towards the interior of the back cover 21, and form a supported structure between the back surface of the mounting seat 1 and the foldable part 213, as shown in Fig. 10. The rolled part of the front cover 22 can be bent towards the exterior of the back cover 21, and form a supported structure below the mounting seat 1, as shown in Fig. 12. Both of the above supported structures are possible.

As show in Fig. 11, the protecting-supporting assembly includes a magnetic component 3, the magnetic component 3 is embedded within the mounting seat 1, and is configured to attract magnetically with the corresponding elastic trip 200. For example, the magnetic component 3 is a magnet, two magnets are embedded within the mounting seat 1, since the elastic trip 200 is made of the metal or alloy material, the two magnets grips the elastic trip 200, the protecting-supporting assembly of the tablet electronic product is more stable in the supported state. As show in Fig. 13, the protecting-supporting assembly includes two magnetic components 3, embedded within mounting seat 1 and arranged at one terminal of the front cover 22 respectively, and the two magnetic components 3 are configured to attract magnetically with the corresponding elastic trip 200 respectively. In other words, each two magnets are embedded within the mounting seat 1 and arranged at one terminal of the front cover 22 respectively. When the elastic trip 200 is pressed, the elastic trip 200 can drive the front cover 22 to roll up, due to the rolling inertia, the front cover 22 can be rolled until the terminal of the front cover 22 contacts the back surface of the mounting seat 1 to form the state as shown in Fig. 12. Thus the operation is more convenient, the support is more stable. When the protecting casing 2 is needed to restore the initial state, the elastic trip 200 is converted into the straight state by user’s hand, so that the protecting casing 2 is in the closed state.

With the protecting-supporting assembly for the tablet electronic product according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the resilient member is disposed in the front cover of the protecting casing, and is deformable to switch between the straight state and the curving state, and thus the front cover can be switched between the cover state and a support state. At the same time, due to the resilient member being inside of the front cover, there is no slots formed in the surface of the front cover for housing the resilient member, thus, an aesthetic sense of the front cover is not affected, and the front cover cannot be broken off after multiple folding, which can improve the using life greatly. The front cover can automatically roll up as the support structure by triggering the deformation of the resilient member, so that the above structure of the protecting-supporting assembly is more compact and easier to operate.

Any procedure or method described in the flow charts or described in any other way herein may be understood to comprise one or more modules, portions or parts for storing executable codes that realize particular logic functions or procedures. Moreover, advantageous embodiments of the present disclosure comprises other implementations in which the order of execution is different from that which is depicted or discussed, including executing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in an opposite order according to the related functions. This should be understood by those skilled in the art which embodiments of the present disclosure belong to.

The logic and/or step described in other manners herein or shown in the flow chart, for example, a particular sequence table of executable instructions for realizing the logical function, may be specifically achieved in any computer readable medium to use by the instruction execution system, product or equipment (such as the system based on computers, the system comprising processors or other systems capable of obtaining the instruction from the instruction execution system, product and equipment and executing the instruction) , or to use in combination with the instruction execution system, product and equipment.

It is understood that each part of the present disclosure may be realized by the hardware, software, firmware or their combination. In the above embodiments, a plurality of steps or methods may be realized by the software or firmware stored in the memory and executed by the appropriate instruction execution system. For example, if it is realized by the hardware, likewise in another embodiment, the steps or methods may be realized by one or a combination of the following techniques known in the art: a discrete logic circuit having a logic gate circuit for realizing a logic function of a data signal, an application-specific integrated circuit having an appropriate combination logic gate circuit, a programmable gate array (PGA) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) , etc.

Those skilled in the art shall understand that all or parts of the steps in the above exemplifying method of the present disclosure may be achieved by commanding the related hardware with programs. The programs may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the programs comprise one or a combination of the steps in the method embodiments of the present disclosure when run on a computer.

In addition, each function cell of the embodiments of the present disclosure may be integrated in a processing module, or these cells may be separate physical existence, or two or more cells are integrated in a processing module. The integrated module may be realized in a form of hardware or in a form of software function modules. When the integrated module is realized in a form of software function module and is sold or used as a standalone product, the integrated module may be stored in a computer readable storage medium.

The storage medium mentioned above may be read-only memories, magnetic disks or CD, etc.

Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment, ” “some embodiments, ” “one embodiment” , “another example, ” “an example, ” “aspecific example, ” or “some examples, ” means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases such as “in some embodiments, ” “in one embodiment” , “in an embodiment” , “in another example, ” “in an example, ” “in a specific example, ” or “in some examples, ” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment or example of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

Although explanatory embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above embodiments cannot be construed to limit the present disclosure, and changes, alternatives, and modifications can be made in the embodiments without departing from spirit, principles and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

A protecting-supporting assembly for a tablet electronic product, comprising:

a mounting seat configured to fix the tablet electronic product therein；

a protecting casing, comprising:

a back cover defining an inner surface configured to fix the mounting seat thereon；

a front cover connected with the back cover and is adapted to cover the tablet electronic product fixed in the mounting seat； and

a resilient member disposed in the front cover and configured to switch between a straight state and a curving state, so as to switch the front cover between a cover state and a support state.
The protecting-supporting assembly of claim 1, wherein the resilient member has two terminals, one of the two terminals is toward the back cover.
The protecting-supporting assembly of claim 1 or 2, wherein the resilient member is transversely disposed in the front cover.
The protecting-supporting assembly of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the resilient member comprises at least two elastic trips, the at least two elastic trips are arranged parallel to each other.
The protecting-supporting assembly of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the front cover comprises two layers of leather, the resilient member is enclosed between the two layers of leather.
The protecting-supporting assembly of claim 5, further comprising at least two reinforced sheets disposed between the two layers of leather, each reinforced sheet defines a mounting groove for mounting the resilient member therein.
The protecting-supporting assembly of any one of claims 1-6, further comprising a magnetic component embedded within the mounting seat and configured to attract magnetically with the resilient member.
The protecting-supporting assembly of any one of claims 1-6, further comprising two magnetic components embedded within a bottom portion of the mounting seat and a distal end of the front cover away from the back cover respectively and configured to attract magnetically with the resilient member.
The protecting-supporting assembly of claims 4, wherein the elastic trip is made of memory metal.
The protecting-supporting assembly of claim 4, wherein the elastic trip is a sheet-like member and has a cross section of an arc with a concave middle section.
The protecting-supporting assembly of any one of claims 1-10, wherein the back cover comprises a fixed part and a foldable part defining two pressed grooves at two ends of the foldable part respectively,

wherein an inner surface of the fixed part is adhered to a back surface of the mounting seat,

wherein the foldable part is connected with the fixed part and the front cover by the two pressed grooves respectively.
The protecting-supporting assembly of any one of claims 1-11, wherein the mounting seat comprises a bottom part and two side parts extended from two sides of the bottom part,

wherein a holding space is defined by the bottom part and the two side parts and holding the tablet electronic product therein.